Presidency drags National Assembly to Supreme Court over power of appropriation

In a bid to end the perennial disagreement over appropriation bills the presidency has resolved to approach the Supreme Court for interpretation of Section 80 of the 1999 Constitution.

According to a report by THISDAY, the presidency’s move is due to the unending disagreement with the legislature over the extent of its power of appropriation.

The section of the constitution in contention, grants the National Assembly the power to approve appropriated public funds.

The presidency has resolved to approach the Supreme Court for interpretation of Section 80 of the 1999 Constitution. According to sources quoted in the report, the Muhammadu Buhari administration is determined to end the perennial disagreement which has become a yearly incident.

The executive will seek to determine the extent of the power of the legislature to appropriate public funds and would compel the apex court to determine whether the National Assembly has the latitude to revise estimates proposed by the executive arm of government or not.

Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, there has been a dispute over the legislature’s insistence that it has the power to vary budget estimates presented to it by the executive for approval, referring specifically to Section 80(2) and (3) of the Constitution.

Section 80(2) provides: “No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the Fund by the Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act or an Act passed in compliance with Section 81 of this Constitution.” Section 80(3) also provides:

“No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation unless the issue of these moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.” Section 81 to which Section 80(2) refers, provides:

“The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year.”

The executive, while admitting that the power of approval of estimates lies with the legislature, however contends that the National Assemby’s authority does not include extensive adjustment of the estimates to the extent that the budget is rewritten by the National Assembly.