Again, N’Assembly Fails to Lay 2016 Budget, Says Document Needs Cleansing Ndubuisi Francis and Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The fate of the 2016 budget remained up in the air yesterday, as both chambers of the National Assembly again failed to fulfill their promise to lay the document, blaming it on the non-completion of its harmonisation by the joint Appropriation Committees of
the federal legislature. Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, the Senate spokesman, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, had assured Nigerians that the budget would be laid yesterday, preparatory to its eventual passage on Tuesday, March 22.
But the promise was not kept, thus making it the third time the National Assembly would renege on its promise to pass or lay the budget in the past six weeks. The National Assembly had at the commencement of legislative work on the budget
in February assured the nation that it would pass the 2016 budget on February 25. But about a week to the deadline, the Chairmen of Appropriation Committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives, Danjuma Goje and Abdulmumin Jibrin,
said its passage on February 25 was no longer feasible in view of the errors and wide-scale discrepancies in the budget. Subsequently, the two men at another press briefing, announced March 17 as the new date for the passage of the budget.
DSS Dispels Rumour of Death of Ekiti Assembly Member... Page 10
But 24 hours to the rescheduled date, both chambers again gave excuses on why the bill could not be passed, saying it would only be laid yesterday towards its eventual passage next week. But much to the disappointment of many, the budget was not slated in the Continued on page 6
Friday 18 March, 2016 Vol 21. No 7631. Price: N150
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TODAY'S WEATHER
ABUJA 16°C-33°C
MAIDUGURI 15°C-35°C
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& RE A S O
ENUGU 22°C-34°C
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LAGOS 23C-31°C
KANO 11°C-33°C
PORT HARCOURT 20°C-30°C
Battle for Rivers Gets Bloodier, Army Major, Soldier Killed PDP, APC trade blame, court restrains military from deploying soldiers Wike raises the alarm over plot to arrest PDP leadership Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt The battle for the control of Rivers State got bloodier yesterday when a major in the Nigerian Army and a soldier were slayed in cold
bold in the Abonnema creek in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of the state by yet-to-beidentified gunmen. THISDAY gathered that a troop of soldiers from the
CONSTITUENCIES WHERE RIVERS HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS WILL HOLD NO 1 2 3 4 5 6
CONSTITUENCIES Ahoada East I Ahoada East II Akukutoru I Akukutoru II Asaritoru I Asaritoru II
NO 7 8 9 10 11 12
CONSTITUENCIES Bonny Degema Ogba/Egbema /Ndoni Emohua Etche II Ikwerre
NO 13 14 15 16 17 18
CONSTITUENCIES Obio/Akpor I Obio/Akpor II Omuma Port Harcourt II Andoni Eleme
NO 19 20 21 22
CONSTITUENCIES Gokana Khana II Opobo/Nkoro Tai
Continued on page 6
Dangote Partners Kaduna, Kebbi States to Bid for Peugeot Nigeria
Report: Nigeria is no longer Africa’s top investment destination Zacheaus Somorin with agency report Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has partnered the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Kaduna and Kebbi State Governments to acquire
a majority stake in Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Limited. This disclosure was made by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, at the launch of the BoI Youth Empowerment Continued on page 6
President Muhammadu Buhari; Executive Secretary, World Muslim League, Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki; and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar II, when the president declared open the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Security in Abuja… yesterday godwin omoigui