The Senate will on Thursday, June 11, 2020, consider the revised 2020 budget.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, gave the hint on Wednesday during plenary after the Committee on Appropriation laid the report on the 2020 revised budget.
“Tomorrow, we can receive and consider the report to ensure that we don’t delay anything as important as that. So, this is the essence of altering the order paper,” Lawan said.
Recall that Senate on Tuesday deferred presentation of the report over a delay by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to provide details for the sum of N186 billion, an amount which is part of the N500 billion COVID-19 intervention fund.
Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Barau Jibrin, on Tuesday explained to his colleagues that the Finance Ministry was yet to comply with the request of the Committee by attaching necessary details for the amount to be captured as part of the 2020 budget amendment bill.
However, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday disclosed that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning had complied with the request of the Appropriations Committee by providing the relevant details for the outstanding N186 billion.
The development, according to him, makes it expedient for the upper chamber to consider the revised 2020 budget on Thursday during plenary.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Wednesday considered a bill seeking to give legislative backing for the establishment of the Federal College of Traditional, Complimentary and Alternate Medicine as an agency under the Federal Ministry of Health.
The bill which was sponsored by Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC – Kwara Central) scaled second reading during plenary.
According to Oloriegbe, the need to explore the option of traditional and alternative medicine has become imperative “in light of our present day realities, especially the ongoing challenge of COVID-19 Pandemic and the need to find cure for it from available local herbs and traditional medicine.”
“With this bill, the Federal College of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine will become a legal institution for the training and re-training of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine professionals in Nigeria and this would enable the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Traditional Medicine strategic plan 2014-2023.
The lawmaker while emphasizing that the college would boost the standard of practice of Traditional, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria, underscored its importance towards improving the coordination of evidence-based medicine in the field of Nigeria Indigenous Medicine.
“It will also update the extent of usage of Traditional Medicine in Nigeria and facilitate the implementation of National Policy on integrative medicine.”
“The domestication of the training, (instead of spending huge resource to train people abroad) will prevent unnecessary wastage of hard earn foreign currency which could be put to other essential services. The College would also serve as training hub for West Africa Sub-Region”, Oloriegbe added.
The bill after consideration was referred by the Senate President, Ahamad Lawan, to the Committee in Tertiary Institution and TETFUND to report back in four weeks.
Meanwhile, A bill for An Act to repeal the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act 2010 and to enact the Nigerian Local and Content Development and Enforcement Commission Act scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday.
The bill which was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC – Niger North) was referred to the Committee on Local Content for further legislative work.
In a related development, A bill for an Act to amend the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Act also scaled Second reading on the floor of the Senate.
Sponsored by Senator Albert Bassey Akpan (PDP – Akwa Ibom North East), the Bill according to the lawmaker, seeks to “stimulate economic development by means of reducing inflationary pressure and insulating the the national economy from volatility in the prices of non-renewable resources.”
The bill was referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committee on Finance for further legislative input.
The Committee which is chaired by Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC – Lagos West) is expected to submit its report in four weeks.
