House committee rejects aviation budget

Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation

By Tordue Salem, Abuja

The House Aviation Committee headed by Representative Nnolim Nnaji on Thursday declined to hold a budget session with Aviation Minister Senator Hadi Sirika and the heads of industry agencies.

The enraged lawmakers said they won’t address their budget because they didn’t submit their 2021 proposals before the defense’s scheduled date.

The ministries and heads of agencies are usually required to submit their proposals, days before the scheduled dates for the defenses.

President Nnaji, in his opening remarks at the scheduled budget meeting with the Minister and the executive directors of the agencies, frowned at the failure to send the documents by the Ministry as previously requested by the Committee.

“Honorable Minister, I do not know how you expect us to continue with this meeting as we just received your budget proposal for 2021 this morning despite giving you a week’s notice so that we can read it and assimilate it before today.

“I don’t blame them for this, but I must say that I am disappointed in those who should have handled this but couldn’t do their job. In order for us to do a good job, we need time to read, ”he said.

According to the president, the 2021 budget required “close scrutiny and due consideration due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry, which he claimed was precarious.”

In addition, he noted that “the #EndSARS protest also hit the industry that was trying to recover and added that the 2021 budget must be such that it helps stabilize the industry with the provision of the necessary critical infrastructure.”

Representative Nnaji, however, gave the floor to his colleagues to make their views known, as they all took turns rejecting the Minister’s presentation.

The Minister in his response, apologized to the president and members for the failure of their agencies to present the documents before the meeting and begged that they give him another date to present the budget.

Both the committee and the ministry resolved to meet on Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 11 a.m. for the budget presentation.