The 2020 Appropriation Bill submitted to the National Assembly last week by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday scaled second reading on the floor of the Senate. The upper chamber has subsequently adjourned plenary till 29th November 2019, to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government defend their respective budget proposals before the Committees of the Senate.
In his concluding remark during the last day of debate on the 2020 budget estimates, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, identified revenue generation as a major challenge of the budget. According to him, the successful implementation of the budget may be difficult to realise until proactive measures are taken to address the situation.
He said: “We are seriously challenged in the area of generating revenues, and it appears that until something drastic is done, this shortage of revenue will continue to militate against the implementation of the budget. “We have to continuously engage the revenue-generating agencies and schedule quarterly evaluation to be handled by our relevant committee, particularly the Senate Committee on Finance.”
He added, “We need to look at how we can enhance the capital allocation. The shortage of funds will militate against that.
