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Senate President Godswill Akpabio has disclosed that he has never seen the National Assembly’s budget despite occupying the country’s third highest political office, as senators called for greater transparency in the legislature’s financial management.
Akpabio made the revelation during Thursday’s plenary while responding to a motion seeking to review the National Assembly’s procurement process and establish an internal tenders board for contract awards.
The motion, sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), followed growing concerns over the management of the legislature’s finances, including persistent technical faults in the recently renovated chambers despite billions of naira reportedly spent on the project.
Responding to the debate, Akpabio said lawmakers must first understand how the National Assembly’s budget is prepared and managed before embarking on procurement reforms.
“We can set up a small committee to work with the management of both chambers… because personally I’ve never seen the budget of the National Assembly,” he said.
The Senate President then sought clarification from former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Tambuwal, on whether the leadership of the Green Chamber had access to its budget.
“You were a speaker… maybe in the House of Representatives, they show you?”
Tambuwal replied:
“Yes.”
Akpabio responded:
“You see. That’s the point. So, the fault lies here in the Senate.”
He further suggested that the Senate President plays little role in the management of the legislature’s finances.
“The way I do things, not that I’m nonchalant, it’s as if they make it a closed thing, and that the Senate President doesn’t have anything to do with the management’s funds and all that,” he said.
Calling for greater openness, Akpabio said both chambers should jointly scrutinise the legislature’s finances before pursuing changes to procurement procedures.
“We should start with ourselves, and we should get the two chambers to know exactly what is going on.”
“We should also debate and understand the budget. We should know how much is coming, what is going to where, and what is going to where.”
He also faulted the timing of Karimi’s proposal, saying it ought to have been discussed with the Senate leadership, the Clerk to the National Assembly and management before being presented during plenary.
“Talking about internal tenders board and all that, should it be in the public glare before we clean up our house?” he asked.
“We should start with ourselves, and we should get the two chambers to know exactly what is going on. We should also debate and understand the budget. We should know how much is coming, what is going to where and what is going to where. This motion is premature.”
Earlier, Karimi argued that establishing an internal tenders board would strengthen the National Assembly’s constitutional autonomy by allowing it to oversee procurement and contract awards within its approved budget.
Several senators, however, opposed the proposal.
Senator Binos Yaroe questioned the accountability process surrounding the National Assembly’s budget.
“Who scrutinises that budget? To which committee does the National Assembly submit its budget? It is important for us to have clarity on these points,” Yaroe said.
Similarly, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi argued that the legislature’s major challenge was not procurement but the lack of a functional budget and research office.
“The issue of the problems that we have in the National Assembly regarding the management of finances, and the budget do not just solely lie in the process of procurement,” Abdullahi said.
“The problem had been that the National Assembly has not set up a budget and research office, of which there have been legislations over several assemblies.”
“What is happening today is that we don’t even know, and we don’t even see the budget of the National Assembly being presented here so that we can interrogate and understand the lines of expenditure.”
“My opinion is that the senator should step down on this motion. Let us get the house right first before we talk about the issues that Distinguished Senator Karimi is raising.”
Following the debate, Karimi agreed to withdraw the motion after Akpabio urged him to allow the Senate first address concerns over budget transparency and internal financial management before considering broader procurement reforms.
