Breaking: Buhari writes Senate on missing budget as debate starts Wednesday

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent amendments to the 2016 budget to the National Assembly, and the letter was read Tuesday by Sen President Bukola Saraki during the Senate plenary.

In the letter, Buhari reminded the lawmakers he told them about correcting errors in the proposal he presented last December.

“At the time of submission, we indicated that because the details had just been produced, we would have had to check to ensure that there were no errors in the detailed breakdown contained in the schedule,” he said.

“The national assembly would therefore have the details as submitted on the 22nd and a copy containing the corrections submitted last week. It appears that this has led to some confusion.

The Senate on Thursday accused the presidency of stealing the hard and soft copies of the budget proposal from the NASS complex, but later denied saying so. Its committee later found out the version Senate adviser to Buhari, Ita Enang, distributed was different from the December version

Buhari insisted the draft bill remains the same, “and there are no changes in any of the figures.”

Senate Leader Ali Ndume was asked to ensure the copies of the corrected document are circulated Tuesday so the Senate will start debate on Wednesday.