From Fred Itua, Abuja
Chairman, Senate Committee on National Population Commission, Abdul Ningi, on Tuesday, told members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriations that there was no provision for the population and housing cencus scheduled for next year in the National Population Commission’s (NPC) budget proposal which was submitted for consideration.
Ningi stated this when he appeared before the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation to submit his panel’s report.
The lawmaker informed the committee that if the money for the census was not provided for in the budget the country would loose about N200 billion which had been spent by the NPC.
He said the NPC would appear tomorrow with their documentations to state how much they would need for the conduct of 2024 population census.
Ningi said: “They will appear tomorrow with proper documentation of how much they need. If we don’t get the money, the nation will loose, the people will loose.
“The money spent for the preparation for the census will go down the drain and it is homogus amount of money, over N200 billion already spent that is my take.”
Reacting to the development, Chairman of the Joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation, Solomon Adeola, assured the panel on NPC that the federal parliament would look for funds to cater for the 2024 population census in the budget.
He said: “The head of the NPC should appear in company with the Committee Chairman to tell them what was needed for the conduct of census which was scheduled to hold in the first quarter of next year.
“Let me assure you that the country will not loose and we are going to work very closely with them that 25 percent component is included, we must find away to accommodate it in this 2024 budget.
“We will like the agency to appear along with the Chairman of the Committee, a synopsis of the idea of what is really going on about the issue of census and whatever the issues are, I can assure that we will resolve it and the population census will come up by the first quarter of 2024.”
Meanwhile, the the joint Committee on Appropriations has supported the inclusion of the controversial N1 billion in the 2024 budget of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
The panel gave the support after receiving the report of the Joint National Assembly Committee on Industry, Trade and Investment on the Ministry’s 2025 budget.
Adeola, however said the federal lawmakers would carry out aggressive oversight to ensure that the fund was appropriately utilized.
A member of the National Assembly standing committee overseeing the affairs of the Ministry, Adams Oshiomhole, had during the budget defence session, said the ministry planned to spend the money on foreign trips next year.
The Minister, Doris Uzoka-Anite, had issued a statement to explain that the N1bn was for the maintainance of the ministry’s desk office at the World Trade Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
However, chairman of the joint panel on Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator Sadiq Umar, told the Appropriation panel on Tuesday, that the money was actually meant to attract foreign investors across the world to Nigeria.
Umar said: “The N1bn is not for foreign trips. It was meant to attract investors to Nigeria from all over the World.
“We are beginning to think that we need to review our trade interest structuring in the country.
“The government today, thinks that we need to strengthen the trade office here.
“However, Mr Chairman, we think that as a committee, we are going to be working with the Minister going forward to see how they make use of the foreign services the best way possible because that is primarily the job of foreign services.
“All the ministers, foreign affairs, ambassadors, their primary job is to be ambassadors for the country as far as trade is concern.
“So, we are working with the minister and see how this can be integrated and I will ensure that the next offices in the foreign nations are functional.
“They have the trade, they have capacity they have the understanding and of course they have the resources to be able to attract investment into pour country,” he said..