As Senate adjourns plenary for the Christmas holidays, the President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmed Lawan on Friday named Senator Smart Adeyemi, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation to replace Dino Melaye who was occupying the position before his ouster from the National Assembly.
Following the outcome of the Kogi West Senatorial re-run poll, Adeyemi had emerged victorious at the supplementary poll ahead of rival, Melaye who was already serving out the term as a Senator in the 9th Senate.
Meanwhile, the senate also passed N273.255bn as 2020 budget for Federal Capital Territory and adjourned plenary till January 28, 2020.
The passage of the FCT budget was sequel to the consideration of a harmonized report of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Statutory Appropriation bill, 2020.
Presenting his report, the Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Abubakar Kyari, gave a breakdown of expenditure to include: N55,878,241,095 as Personnel costs; N62,343,723,435 as Overhead costs; bringing Recurrent expenditure to a total of N118,221,964,530.
Kyari said the sum budgeted for Capital Expenditure in the 2020 fiscal year for the Federal Capital Territory is N160, 133,401,417. The senate President, Ahmed Lawan, said the FCT budget passed by the National Assembly was a responsibility they discharged to ensure full implementation of the budget.
He urged the Senate Committee on FCT to be steadfast and ensure that the budget passed is properly implemented.
“We will work together with the executive arm to ensure we get those revenues that are supposed to fund the budget that we have passed.
“I believe that in this regard, we will not allow the FCT Administration not to do what is acceptable. We must ensure that this FCT is reclaimed, because there are so many things that are not going right.”
“We need to ensure that the FCT is safe, that residents and visitors alike come in here and do their businesses safely in a very secured environment.
“This is supposed to be the most secured city in Nigeria, because this is the seat of government.
“If we are not able to provide that security that befits the status of the FCT, the story outside of Nigeria will not be good for the country.
“I believe that we have done our job, and what is left is for FCT to take up its responsibility to ensure that this budget is implemented,” he said.
