2023 budget: Again Senate adopts ‘take a bow’ in Interior budget considerations

By Haruna Salami

For the second year, the Senate Committee on Interior has adopted a ‘take a bow’ method in consideration of the 2023  budget of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigeria  Immigration Service (NIS) and other agencies under Interior Committee.

It will be recalled the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kashim Shettima, (Borno Central) had in 2019 cited the COVID 19 and the nationwide lockdown on the inability of the Committee to discourse the budget proposal.

When the Nigeria Immigration Service,(NIS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were scheduled to appear before the Committee Thursday to defend their 2023 budgets, Senator Shettima, the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential running mate to the APC flagbearer, Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the 2023 general elections again step down the consideration of the 2023 budget proposals of the agencies.

He was obviously torn between his parliamentary duty and the ongoing campaigns.

According to him “in this nation this is the upper parliament of the Federation of Nigeria.

He said, he and his colleagues are “accomplished gentlemen and ladies who not to play to the gallery”.

Apparently referring  to the security situation in the country he said “Times like this call for retrospection, a lot of maturity and a lot of sober reflection.

“In the light of the above, we are in agreement that they should lay down their budget, take a bow and step aside, so that if we have questions to ask them we will invite the heads of those organizations subsequently for closed door sessions”.

With this the consideration of the  2023 and the  assessment of the 2022 performance of the agencies was step down contrary to the usual session of rigorous scrutiny by the legislature before approval or otherwise.