The National Assembly has reiterated its commitment to advancing Nigeria’s economic wellbeing, with a focus on getting the country out of recession through viable laws and productive engagement with the executive arm of government.
Senate President Bukola Saraki made this commitment during a joint session of the Upper (Senate) and Lower (House of Reps), to receive the presentation of the 2017 budget by President Buhari.
Assessing the relationship between the 8th legislative assembly and the executive, especially on budget preparation and implementation, Saraki said that despite experiencing some issues with the initial phase of the 2016 budget, the budget has benefitted from wide consultation and collaboration between the legislature and the executive.
“While we may have struggled with key aspects of the budget process in the past, I am happy to note that we have made some important progress, To start with, we are seeing the budget presentation coming slightly earlier this year, though we hope to see an even greater improvement on this in the coming year. but more importantly, however, is that so far in this year’s budget process, it has benefitted from greater collaboration and consultation from the national assembly and the executive.”
Saraki said that the national assembly is poised to develop budget frameworks that will sync with the development thrust of the country and respond to the current recession.
“The national assembly is working on an organic budget that law will harmonise the budget and national planning regime.
“In response to the recession, the national assembly is working on 11 priority bills to end the economic recession. To achieve economic growth, we must make it easier to do business in Nigeria. We must make efforts to market Nigeria as an attractive brand for investment. We must speak the right language to attract investment and ensure investor confidence.”