Senate President Godswill Akpabio has disclosed that he has never seen the National Assembly’s budget since assuming office, raising fresh concerns over transparency in the management of the legislature’s finances.
Akpabio made the revelation during plenary on Thursday while responding to a motion seeking reforms to the National Assembly’s procurement process. He argued that lawmakers should first understand how the legislature’s budget is prepared and managed before introducing new procurement measures.
“We can set up a small committee to work with the management of both chambers because personally, I’ve never seen the budget of the National Assembly,” Akpabio said.
The Senate President then turned to former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Tambuwal, asking whether House leadership had access to the legislature’s budget during his tenure.
“You were a Speaker… maybe in the House of Representatives, they showed you?” Akpabio asked.
“Yes,” Tambuwal replied.
“You see. That’s the point. So, the fault lies here in the Senate,” Akpabio responded.
Akpabio said the leadership of the Senate has limited involvement in the management of the National Assembly’s finances, describing the budget process as largely handled by the institution’s management.
“The way I do things, not that I’m nonchalant, it’s as if they make it a closed thing, and that the Senate President doesn’t have anything to do with the management’s funds and all that,” he said.
He called for greater openness, urging both the Senate and the House of Representatives to jointly scrutinise and debate the National Assembly’s budget before embarking on procurement reforms.
“We should start with ourselves, and we should get the two chambers to know exactly what is going on. We should also debate and understand the budget. We should know how much is coming, what is going to where, and what is going to where,” he added.
The remarks came during deliberations on a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West), who proposed the establishment of an internal tenders board to oversee procurement and contract awards within the National Assembly. Karimi argued that such a board would strengthen the legislature’s constitutional autonomy and improve accountability in contract administration.
However, several senators opposed the proposal, insisting that lawmakers should first address broader concerns about transparency in the National Assembly’s finances. Senator Binos Yaroe (Adamawa South) questioned the oversight mechanism for the legislature’s budget, while Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) argued that the absence of a dedicated Budget and Research Office had weakened lawmakers’ ability to scrutinise expenditure.
Following the debate, Akpabio advised Karimi to withdraw the motion to allow the Senate to first examine the National Assembly’s budgeting process. The lawmaker subsequently stepped down the proposal pending further consultations.
