The senator representing Lagos West Senatorial
District, Senator Solomon Adeola has called on the
8th National Assembly to immediately seek the
activation and operation of the National Assembly
Budget and Research Office, NABRO to ensure that
the legislature fulfil its mandate for effective
legislation and representation.
Contributing to the debate on the Legislative
Agenda for the 8th Senate, the senator said
beyond making laws and oversight, a major
function of the legislature is the “power of the
purse” which is the power to appropriate funds
through budget adding that the executive will
always want the yearly budget to be passed
without scrutiny of the legislature, a situation he
foresees will end with the operation of NABRO,
which is the equivalent of USA Congressional
Budget Office.
“The operation of NABRO would greatly assist in
providing data for effective scrutiny of budget as
presented by the executive as relevant research
would have been done and provided for the
legislature to query assumptions of government
agencies. We need to ensure that NABRO which
has been passed into law since the 6th National
Assembly become fully operational to ensure we
do the job we were elected to do” he stated in
his contribution.
He said the Legislative arm of government cannot
afford to lose the power of the purse and NABRO
will assist in critical scrutiny of Appropriation Bills
as well as Medium Term Expenditure Framework,
MTEF as they cannot be taken as sacrosanct
without questioning adding that each committee
of the Senate should be supported in the interim
by qualified consultants in relevant fields.
Senator Adeola said the Legislative Agenda of the
8th Senate is a policy document to guide the
Senate and should serve as a roadmap for its
activities adding that its articulation shows the
sincerity and seriousness of the current National
Assembly.
The Senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki
adjourned the debate till next week after
contributions from Senator Remi Tinubu and
others on various sections of the agenda.
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