Senator Solomon Adeola, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, revealed this during an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday.

The lawmakers are expecting the 2024 appropriation bill by next week, according to Senator Adeola.

The Senate Committee on Appropriation has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday of next week with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, prior to the expected presentation.

Adeola noted that the lawmakers intend to continue the January to December budget cycle, which the 9th National Assembly started after promising that the Senate will do a thorough job before enacting the budget.

He said: “I want you to take cognizance of the fact that there is a change of government prior to now and as of May 29, 2023, a new Government is in place.

“I want you to take cognizance of the change of government on May 29. There is a teething problem because there is a change of government.

“The new administration has a new mantra that encapsulates its vision and there must be challenges.

“We will do a thorough job on the budget. Our job is to verify the budget to meet the expectations of the people. We will look into it thoroughly.

“We are expecting the MTEF next week and immediately we receive the document, the Committee on Finance will go into work and look into it.

“I assure you that we won’t break the tradition, we will have the budget as at when due. We will keep to the tradition of the January to December budget cycle.”

On budget padding, Senator Adeola said he doesn’t believe in budget padding but assured that the lawmakers would ensure the budget meets the yearnings of the people.

“It has to do with the nomination of the project to the budget document that will meet the yearnings and the needs of the people, I would not regard that as padding. It is still part of the government document we look into and it has an expectation. The budget is an estimate but implementation is another thing. So I don’t believe in budget padding,” he said.