The House of Representatives on Thursday called for a status report on the implementation of the 2015 budget, with less than five months to the end of the year.

It has set up a nine-member adhoc committee to investigate the level of implementation of the budget, which was inherited from the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 29 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The committee is chaired by an All Progressives Congress lawmaker from Kwara State, Mr. Ahmad Pattegi.

Jonathan had signed the N4.6trillion budget on May 5, just weeks to the expiration of his tenure on May 29.

But the House observed on Thursday that there were conflicting information on the status of the budget since Buhari assumed office.

Members also noted that all projects appeared to have been stalled, as ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government kept sealed lips over the status of the budget. A member from Enugu State, Mr. Pat Asadu, while moving a motion on the budget, noted that the National Assembly expected that Buhari should have briefed lawmakers formally on the status of the budget.

Asadu said the legislature must be informed if truly the country had no money to implement the budget or whether there was a need to review the budget "or even come up with a supplementary budget." "What is the situation with the implementation? If the budget is not implementable, let us know.

"If the President wants a supplementary budget, he should let us know as well," Asadu added.

He received the backing of the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, who echoed the feeling of many other members that Nigerians should have adequate knowledge on the status of the budget.

"As a House of the Nigerian people, we need to know what is happening to the budget.

"If there is no money, we have to know that indeed, funds are not available," Dogara said.

The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, also said the motion was relevant because it would appear that "nothing" had happened this year so far regarding the implementation of the budget.

Lasun recalled that the 2015 budget would probably go down in history as the worst implemented since 1999.

He stated that in recent years, it was only in 2012 that "50 per cent" implementation was achieved.

"2012 budget was probably the only year that projects were implemented up to 50 per cent during the 7th Assembly.

"In 2015, nothing has even happened," Lasun told the House.

In another resolution, the House called on Buhari to constitute the Board of the National Council on Public Procurement in compliance with Section 1 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

Mr. James Faleke, who moved a motion on the subject, noted that the board played key roles in the operations of the Bureau of Public Procurement, an agency with the responsibility of "formulating the general policies and guidelines relating to public procurement sector."

Faleke recalled that in the absence of the board, the Federal Executive Council took over its responsibilities under the administration of Jonathan.