Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, today insisted that the 2016 budget is not missing. Weighing in on the controversy, he said that no statement made by any Senator during the plenary today could be interpreted to mean an admission that the 2016 budget is missing.

Abdullahi told journalists in Abuja that the Senate would tomorrow distribute copies of the budget to all the Senators so as to arm them to properly contribute to the debate which will take place from Tuesday, January 19, to Thursday, January 21, 2016.

Abdullahi disclosed that during today’s plenary, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe sought for clarification on the story in the media purporting that the copy of the 2016 budget submitted to the Senate was missing and sought to know update on the issue.

Abdullahi said that Senate President Bukola Saraki replied that the issue and all issues emanating from the executive sessions were being looked into by an ad-hoc committee, saying that all Senators should wait for the committee to submit its report.

“We have reeled out our timetable for working on the budget. So, how can the same budget be missing? The Senate President never said or admitted that the budget is missing and there was nothing that he said while presiding over the plenary that could be logically interpreted to mean an admission that the budget is missing,” Abdullahi said.

“The media should please avoid unnecessary sensationalism. We assure Nigerians that our time table of completing work on the budget by February ending remains sacrosanct and we will work assiduously to achieve it,” he added.

•Photo shows the Senate in session.

of some oil companies, especially Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), which led to the state losing “a billion naira in monthly revenue from royalties and taxes,” while more than N2 billion monthly was also being lost in taxes and royalties as a result of some oil companies operating in Delta State failing to domicile their offices and staff in the state.

Governor Okowa assured the people of his administration’s determination to develop the non-oil sector, disclosing that the Export Processing Zone which was being developed by the Federal Government which has the capacity of creating 100,000 direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs when fully operational was still on course.

Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, former Minister of Information, commended the Delta State Government for organising the summit. He called on the National Assembly to revisit the Petroleum Industry Bill which he said would proffer solutions to some of the challenges facing Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector.

Lectures were delivered by resource persons while officials of oil and gas companies and representatives of security agencies gave talks on different issues on the way forward.

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