• Reps suspend rules to admit president, Senators
President Goodluck Jonathan will present the 2012 Appropriation Bill to the Joint Session of the National Assembly next week Tuesday.
He will also address the members of the National Assembly same day on the floor of the House of Representative on the 2012 budget.
The 2012 Budget presentation was contained in a letter Jonathan addressed to the Senate President, Senator David Mark entitled “2012 budget.”
The 2012 budget was expected to have been presented to the National Assembly for consideration and approval in November but it was not possible because of the controversy trailing the proposal by the Federal Government to withdrawal fuel subsidy.
Mark read the letter on the floor of the Senate yesterday.
Part of the letter read: “I crave the kind indulgence of the National Assembly to grant me the slot of 12: 00 noon, Tuesday, 13the December, to formally address the Joint Session of the National Assembly on the 2012 Budget.”
Observers said that the presentation of the 2012 budget has been unduly delayed by the politics of fuel subsidy withdrawal.
The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)forward to the National Assembly by Jonathan hinted about the plan to remove fuel subsidy beginning from 2012 fiscal year.
The proposal to remove fuel subsidy became topical with proponents and opponents labouring to win the debate.
The Senate was not left out of the debate as the proposal has thrown the upper legislative chamber into a sharp division with some Senators insisting that removal of subsidy was the only way to save money to grow the economy.
But others felt that withdrawal of fuel subsidy would unleash unprecedented suffering on average Nigerians.
Fuel subsidy, to be or not to be remains the question that will be answered when Jonathan presents his budget speech on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha announced the budget presentation through a letter sent to the House by President Jonathan.
He sais when the letter was forwarded to the House in September, the initiative was to ensure that planned spending are set at prudent and sustainable levels in line with governments overall medium term developmental objectives set out in the transformational agenda of the administration.
Consequently, the Representatives suspended House rule as moved by the House Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola to enable the admittance of the President into the chamber for the briefing as well as enable Senators access to the lower chamber before the arrival of the President.
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Jonathan presents 2012 budget Tuesday