Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives,
says the presidency will sign the 2017 appropriation bill
into law, “early next week”.

Speaking at a special session to commemorate the second
anniversary of the 8th house, Dogara said the legislature
has kept its promise of ensuring a transparent deliberation
and passage of the budget.

The speaker said all the measures put in place in place by
the house in the bid to pass the budget were geared
towards galvanising the country’s economy for greater
growth.

“On the issue of budget, we kept our promise to Nigerians
at the beginning of the legislative session to ensure
transparent deliberation and passage of the 2017
appropriation bill which will be signed into law early next
week,” he said.

“We have also carried out significant budget reforms. For
the first time in the history of Nigeria, a public hearing was
conducted in the national assembly to get the input of
Nigerians in the budgetary process.

“Further reforms introduced include the details of the
appropriation Act being available to all members before
passage in plenary; the requirement that members of each
committee should sign the report of their committees before
being sent to the committee on appropriation.

“All these novel measures are unprecedented in the history
of our parliament. These proactive measures ensured that
the house’s debate and consideration of the 2017 budget
proposal presented by the president was evidence based
and geared towards galvanising the economy for greater
growth.”

Dogara added that the bills passed by the house such as
the established of federal competition and consumer
protection commission aims at stimulating the economy by
“efficient allocation of resources and eliminate barriers to
entry and restrictive trade practices in our market.”

“It will have a hugely positive impact on the quality of
goods and services and their prices in the interest of the
Nigerian consumer. Several Bills and Resolutions aimed at
improving ease of doing business in Nigeria have been
passed and more are in the works,” he said.

TheCable