Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu on Thursday said the 2022 Appropriation Bill will be sealed and delivered before the end of the year 2021.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports Kalu made this known to newsmen at a media parley in Abuja.
He said most likely, the report of the 2022 Appropriation Bill will be presented on the floor of the House on Tuesday next week.
According to the lawmaker, the Appropriations committee of the House have been receiving reports from various committees that Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) met with while defending their budget proposals.
Kalu further disclosed that the House will adjourn its sitting for the year on Thursday next week to enable members celebrate the yuletide with their families.
The House spokesman said based on preference, after the passage of the 2022 Appropriation Bill, the first quota of the House resumption next year will be focused on the electoral act amendment.
Asked whether Mr President declined assent to the electoral act amendment bill, Hon. Kalu said:” I can tell you with every amount of audacity that there’s no communication from Mr. President to that effect.
“So any insinuation is the figment of an imagination of those who are trying to increase their lobbying skills. To weaken the hearts of so many people that believe in this advocacy to begin to look the other way thinking Mr President has turned the other way.
“A point must be made, in lobbying so many other tools are involved. Remember not too long ago, was it in the public parlance that the cost of running this direct primaries is so much, we agree democracy is expensive but the question we should ask ourselves is why was that thrown up beyond other issues that came up? It was a lobbying skill.
“Let the nation cry that it is wasteful but let the nation see the cost effectiveness of it. A disciple of democracy that I am and so many members of the parliament, you will believe that democracy itself is not cheap, if it was cheap we will not be having three arms of government. And because of that the question becomes should we drop democracy because it is not cheap?
“The answer is no because of the product, the word that comes with democracy. Nation building, nation development and all the rest of them. So we can not sacrifice the beauty of democracy and what it brings on the alter of cost. It might be costly but to democracy it is not expensive. Always differentiate the two that it is costly does not mean that it is expensive.
“It is only expensive when the worth of what the reward it would be”.