Some hope for transparency in governance emerged on Friday when the National Assembly gave details of the N159bn it budgeted for itself.
This came after much pressure from stakeholders as the legislature is believed to be about the most audacious, if not reckless and corrupt in Nigeria,
For one, it is famous for ‘jumbo pay’, which many still believe is applicable to the whooping N159bn it not only budgeted for itself but that will also be disbursed by it.
The office of the senate president released details of the budget in a tweet on Friday, in line with a promise earlier made by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki.
It was, however, released via a tweet.
Of the N139 billion earmarked for the legislature, N35 billion was the total for the senate, while the house of representatives had N57 billion.
While legislative aides got N10 billion, the national assembly office and commission got N15 billion and N2 billion respectively.
The national assembly legislative institute got N4 billion while N1.1 billion was appropriated for service wide vote of the legislature.
The public accounts committee (PAC) of the senate and the house got N118 million and N142 million respectively. N12.3 billion was earmarked for “general services.”
