2016 National Assembly Budget will be made public

•Saraki

Senate President Bukola Saraki has promised that the National Assembly will make public, the details of its next year’s budget breakdown.

He spoke in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Social Media, Mr. Bamikole Omishore, in Abuja.

Saraki said from next year, the citizens would not have to rely on ‘’falsehood they received from some online media”.

The development, he said, was in fulfillment of his inaugural promise and part of efforts to satisfy the curiosity of some Nigerians, who had been clamouring that the budget should be made public.

The statement also reads in part: “By the time we come into the 2016 budget, at the end of the year, it will be clearer because people just see one item line.

“But that is not going to happen now; you will see what goes to the Senate and what goes to the House of Representatives.

“You are going to see what goes to the management, what goes to the Legislative Institute and we are going to make all these open and clear.

“That is part of the openness we promised.”

He noted that at his inauguration on June 9, he promised that there would be change from impunity and elite arrogance to a life of accountability and respect for every citizen.

The National Assembly must, therefore, justify the privilege of representation conferred on it by the people, Saraki said.

“As the President of the Eighth Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly, I shall be guided by the enormity of the responsibilities that this moment imposes on all of us,’’ he said.

Saraki restated his commitment to being accessible to the citizens on the dealings of the Senate, saying that he understood the expectations of Nigerians.