As the agitations for the review of the constitution rages on, the National Assembly may have hinted of possible hitches to the review.
Chairman, Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review the 1999 Constitution, Ovie Omo-Agege on Monday said there is no allocation for Constitution Review in the 2021 budget,
Though Omo-Agege assured that the committee has sufficient funds to carry out the exercise.
The deputy senate president who is the Chairman of the National Assembly panel Constitution committee also revealed that for the crucial work, the committee was still operating its 2020 budget.
He expressed optimism that funds would be voted for the exercise in the supplementary budget expected to be transmitted to the National Assembly in no distant time.
The Committee has scheduled zonal public hearings in 12 states across the six geopolitical zones to commence on Wednesday this week.
He insisted that the Bills to be collated from the public hearings will be voted on and passed by the Senate in July 2021 before the lawmakers embark on their annual vacation.
On whether paucity of funds has been responsible for the slow pace of work by the Committee and how the situation may likely affect the target of the panel to deliver on its mandate before the July recess for members of the National Assembly, Omo-Agege said the committee does not lack funds.
“In 2021 budget, we have not received an appropriation yet due to some oversight so we are still working on the 2020 budget and we are hoping that during the supplementary exercise we will be accommodated
“I can tell you categorically that we have no challenge with paucity of funds. I was actually answering a question as to how much was appropriated (for the review exercise) in 2021. The answer again is that there was no appropriation for 2021.
