The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, has expressed surprise at the accusation by the Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, to the effect that he snubbed the Senate and refused to turn up for a scheduled meeting on November 1, 2016.

While acknowledging receipt of the letter from Senator Ndume inviting him for a meeting with the Senate leadership, the minister said the meeting was eventually moved by agreement; and wondered why Senator Ndume would go on the floor of the upper legislative chamber to say he failed to turn up, when he was aware that the meeting was rescheduled.

Senator Udoma in a statement issued on Thursday evening by his Media Adviser Akpandem James was equally surprised that “even after the newspaper that published the story, which quoted him as blaming the National Assembly for the delay in the presentation of the 2017 budget, has published that the reporter never spoke with the minister, Senator Ndume still went ahead to make an issue out of the matter on the floor of the Senate.”

•Photo showsSenator Udoma.