The Chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning and Poverty Alleviation and former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Barnabas Gemade, has said the posture of the Executive arm of government on the powers of the National Assembly to appropriate funds negates the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
Gemade, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Sunday ahead of the public hearing on the need to review the planning and budgeting process, which holds on Monday (today), said the issues surrounding the 2013 budget amendment bill were complicated and not as straightforward as some would think.
He said it would be necessary for the National Assembly and the Executive to create a forum for discussion so as to be able to determine to what extent both arms could complement each other in the interest of the nation.
Gemade said, “I do not speak for the National Assembly because I am not the spokesman, but as a senator, I will clearly state here that the issues involved in the 2013 budget are very complicated. They are not as straightforward as many people have put it.