The House of Representatives has scheduled a separate public hearing on the Finance Act (Amendment) Bill for next week, following the crisis that characterised the failed joint session with the Senate.
It was learnt on Wednesday that the House Committee on Finance would conduct a parallel hearing on the bill, as its Senate counterpart is billed to present its report today.
The bill presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly as part of the measures to shore up revenue to finance the 2020 budget, seeks to amend the Petroleum Profit Tax Act, Customs and Excise Tariff Act, Company Income Tax Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax, Stamp Duties Act and Capital Gain Tax.
The Senate and House committees had planned to hold a joint hearing on the bill on Tuesday, but the latter boycotted the event, alleging marginalisation in the organisation of the exercise.
The Senate panel, however, went ahead with the public hearing.
Members of the House, who spoke to our correspondent, protested against the alleged disregard for them by their Senate counterparts.
A member said, “People are insisting these are two interdependent legislative houses, so there must be some level of independence. If it is a joint committee, there should be co-chairmen, not one chairman; they have to share the responsibility.”
Another member of the House said, “The news public hearing will be strictly by the House, we cannot do it jointly again. For public hearings, each house is supposed to organise its own, especially when the issue is a resolution of either of the houses. What a resolution will look like in the House may not be the same at the Senate. That is why there is a conference committee (to harmonise different resolutions).”
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, blamed non-appearance of House members at the hearing on communication error. According to him, the Senate did not inform the House about the event through the official channels.
Kalu said, “There must be a miscommunication somewhere. We have always had joint sittings with the Senate; we have no problem with having a joint meeting with the Senate. We have a robust relationship.”
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