DEPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said on Wednesday that the passage of national budgets should henceforth be subjected to public hearings.
Ekweremadu, who stated this in a statement by his Media Adviser, Uche Anichukwu, said that Appropriation bills should be subjected to public hearing to promote transparency and enable Nigerians and experts to make inputs.
He also said the National Assembly was cautious not to pass any law that would muzzle the civil society in view of the need to strengthen the synergy between the legislature and the civil society groups in the appropriation process.
Ekweremadu, who stated this in Abuja at a national conference on the Role of the Legislature in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria, said that the legislature and the civil society must work together.
Ekweremadu, who chaired the session on “The Legislature and the Civil Society: Making the Feedback Process Count,” said the Appropriation Bill was about the most important bill in a democracy, shaping patterns of development, and deployment of resources, and as such needed to be subjected to public scrutiny.
