Senate: No fire brigade approach to passing Tinubu’s N27.5 trillion 2024 budget

Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said there will be no fire brigade approach to passing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s N27.5 trillion 2024 budget.

After a committee meeting on Saturday, he assured journalists.

Some report that President Tinubu gave lawmakers with an empty box, implying he was without documents, were denied by the lawmaker.

Some MPs making the claim were uneducated, Olamilekan said.

On the alleged fire brigade approach, the Senator said the executive and legislature were aware of January to December budget circle implementation and would work to pass the budget quickly.

“Saturday’s meeting was to plot a template that would ensure smooth committee hearing of the budget,” he claimed, requiring all key committee chairs to attend.

No fire department here. Procedures must be followed. Agency budgets must be defended and returned to the Appropriations Committee for committee review.

We only discussed the modalities we will use to ensure a smooth appropriation process in the Senate, and I think all the chairmen of the various Senate committees are here, so we can still meet the 31 December–January deadline so the president can assent to the budget.

“The strategy is perfect, and we are ready. We mostly discussed that.

We will now have joint Senate-House sittings, with some committees working from the Senate and others from the House. The timeline is still achievable.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee has received the 2024 annual budget after second reading.