Buhari, lawmakers may clash again over National Assembly 2018 funds

President Muhammadu Buhari may be in for another showdown with members of the National Assembly on resumption of plenary in January if the executive fails to release funds appropriated to the federal parliament in the 2018 budget.

Some of the federal lawmakers, who spoke with our correspondents on Friday, alleged that the executive arm of government had withheld their money as a form of punishment.

The National Assembly increased its budget from N125bn allocated to it in 2017 to N139bn in 2018.

They, however, said rather than implement the N139bn allocated to them in 2018, the executive was still paying them based on the N125bn appropriated for them in the 2017 national budget.

The development worsened penultimate week, forcing the House of Representatives to summon the Minister of Finance, Aisha Mohammed, to explain the delay in the release of the funds, categorised as first-line charge.

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