Sanni Onogu, Abuja
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, on Thursday defended the resort to closed-door sessions by Senate Committees with heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who came to the National Assembly defend their 2020 budget proposals.
Most of the committees that had their sessions on Thursday said they did not need the media because they want to meet in camera.
Adeyeye who was answering questions from reporters during an interactive session, however said that the Senate would not deny the journalists any necessary information the public needs to know about the budget.
Some Senate Committees on Thursday began the process of considering the details of the 2020 budget of the MDAs with most of the sessions held behind closed doors, as against the usual practice of allowing the media access to the hearings.
He said that the decision to shut out reporters was to avoid unnecessary distractions and to enable the committees do serious work.
He said that the chairman of the Committees would always brief the media if necessary after taking briefings from the MDAs.
Reporters had asked the Senate spokesman why most committees would not allow journalists to cover their budget hearings.
Adeyeye said: “On secret meetings with MDAs, I have said that we shall liaise with relevant committees of the Senate to make sure that they allow proper coverage of their activities.
“I just finished a meeting of another committee on budget defence and honestly we held that meeting but the venue couldn’t accommodate all of us, even a lot of the staff have nowhere to seat.
“It is not that they want to conduct budget defence in secrecy but serious issues of budget defence, looking at figures, ratify them, adjusting them don’t necessarily have to be open to the media.
“What I am saying is that there is no secrecy but they need to do serious work.
“If I want to write a paper now, I want to do serious intellectual work, will I be doing it in the full glare of camera? No!
“I want us to believe that it is a serious matter. We want to discuss the issues seriously, genuinely, factually.
“The press can be called in but sometimes the Committee needs their privacies to do their jobs.
“They can at the end of the day call the press to say, ‘this is what we have done.’ If they can do their job without the searchlight of the cameras, they can get the job done.
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“This is what they have done, it is not secrecy. Do you want the Committees to do everything in your presence? I don’t think it is proper.
“Were you there when the Executive was preparing the budget, but the president came here to present it.
“The budget defence can be done behind closed door but then whatever has be done, the best thing is to release it to the public and I think that’s if fair enough.”
Responding to a question, he added: “There is nothing secret about this thing, they are looking at it item by item they couldn’t have released it to the press.
“I am going to pass information to chairmen of the various Committees to do the same on their report.
“They can’t be waiting for the press, or invite you for all these things. We will encourage them to brief you on whatever have been done— there is no secrecy there, the budget has been prepared, the documents have been submitted to all senators and we are looking at them, item by item.
“When we meet with the MDAs, we queried them on some of the items, do you want us to ask such questions in the presence of the press?
“It is like you are marking somebody’s script in an exam and you are announcing it! There is no need for that because at the end of the day, the results will be released.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 8 presented the 2020 Appropriation Bill of N10.33trillion to a Joint Session of the National Assembly.
It is the first time the fiscal document would be presented early in October in a bid to return the country’s financial year to January to December cycle.
It could be recalled that a number of MDAs appeared before various Senate committees on Wednesday.
However, after the Senate Committee on Public Accounts welcomed the Auditor-General of the Federation he excused the media when it was time to look at the agency’s budget.
Also the Committee on Ecology and Climate Change excused the media after the Permanent Secretary who represented the Minister of Environment
The Committee on Defence also asked journalists to leave at some point during the defense of the budget.
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