Philip Agbese, the deputy spokesman of the House of Representatives, reassured Nigerians about the 10th National Assembly’s commitment to preventing duplication within the 2024 budget.
Agbese emphasized the Assembly’s determination to break away from past practices where budgeted items were paid for without resulting in completed projects, asserting that the current NASS is striving to disrupt this trend of “business as usual.” He made these comments during his appearance on the Channels Television programme, ‘Sunrise Daily,’ on Thursday.
He said, “We are looking at how things can be done differently from how they were done in the past.
“We are going to use the instrument of lawmaking to address these issues, and while we promise meticulous scrutiny of the budget document, one is to ensure that there will be no duplication of projects as far as the 2024 budget is concerned.”
It was reported that the budget was presented by President Bola Tinubu to a joint session of the National Assembly on November 29.
Tinubu had christened the appropriation bill the “Budget of Renewed Hope.”
Agbese noted that the House will ensure that the citizens feel the positive impacts of the scrutinisation of the budget.
He added, “We have had cases in the past where we saw agencies duplicate some of the projects and money will be budgeted for these things. We are telling Nigerians that with the 10th National Assembly, it is not going to be business as usual.”
The deputy spokesman noted that the House is going “to make sure that we don’t just do things differently but the things that will be done differently will have a positive impact on the welfare of the people. Every single kobo will be used in the interest of the Nigerian people.”
