ALEDEH.COM

The National Assembly on Tuesday, May 9, raised the 2017 budget from original proposed N7.298 trillion to N7.441 trillion.

The National Assembly raised the budget by over N143bn, up from President Muhammadu Buhari’s original proposal of N7.298tn.

The development came after the  Nigerian Senate received the 2017 budget report from its joint Committees on Appropriation and Finance earlier today.

The 2017 budget report from the Senate joint Committees on Appropriation and Finance was laid before the Senate today, Tuesday, May 9 by the Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje representing Gombe Central Constituency at the National Assembly.

Recall that the report which was to be laid last week Thursday, was postponed to this week (Tuesday) to enable the committees on appropriation in the Senate and House of Representatives make final corrections.

Speaking on the matter last week Thursday, the Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan said: “They are meeting with the house committee on appropriation to cross the Ts and dot the Is of the 2017 budget by harmonising and I have also been informed that by the grace of God, the budget 2017 will be laid on Tuesday,” Lawan had said.

Speaking on the report today, Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki, commended the committee for a job well done, adding that the senate would ensure the passage of the bill on Thursday.

The Senate President commended the committee for laying the report with details, saying it would help speed up the passage of the bill.

According to him, “On behalf of our colleagues let me congratulate the committee.

“This is history been made, because this is the first time report of the Appropriation Bill will be laid with details.

“Because of that, by tomorrow (Wednesday) you will get hard copies of the report, but the soft copy will be ready today.

“We will distribute them and ensure we pass the bill on Thursday,’’ Saraki said.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had on December 14, 2016, presented a budget proposal of N7.30 trillion for the 2017 fiscal year before a Joint Session of the National Assembly.

According to the details of the budget presented then by President Buhari, the sum of N2.24 trillion, representing 30.7 per cent, will be committed to capital expenditure, while N2.98 trillion will go to recurrent spending.

Similarly, the 2017 budget had its oil benchmark price set at 42.5 dollar per barrel and a production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s original proposal of N7.298tn also put the aggregated revenue available to fund the budget at N4.94 tn, which is 28 per cent higher than that of 2016.