NASS transmits budget to president
News & Trends •
in his remarks president of the senate dr bukola saraki said that there was need to grow the economy away from oil1 the recently passed 2018 appropriation bill has been transmitted to the presidency for the assent of president muhammadu buhari1 the nass had on may 16 passed the 2018 appropriation bill of n9.12 trillion1 the budget was increased by the legislature by n508 billion from the n8.61 trillion proposed and presented by president buhari to the nass in november 20171 enang in a statement in abuja said he had received the 2018 budget passed by both chambers of the nass and was set to be transmitted to the president for further action1 i have received the 2018 appropriation bill for onward transmission to the president as soon as possible1 since the appropriation bill has been received what is left is for it to be transmitted immediately to the president he said1 the national assembly on may 16 passed the 2018 appropriation bill of n9.12 trillion after it was increased by the lawmakers by n508 billion1 chairman of the committee sen. danjuma goje presented the budget and explained that it was premised on oil price benchmark of 51 dollars per barrel as against 45 dollars proposed by the president1 he added that it also benchmarked at crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and exchange rate of n305 to one dollar1 goje said that of the aggregate expenditure of n9.12 trillion n530 billion was earmarked for statutory transfers while n2 trillion was earmarked for debt service1 he added that n3.5 trillion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure n2.8 trillion for capital expenditure n1.95 trillion for fiscal deposit while deficit to gross domestic product was put at -1.73 per cent1 he recalled that the 2018 budget as presented by buhari had the objective of delivering on a three year 2018-2020 economic recovery and growth plan ergp1 the bill contained the estimates of revenue and expenditure totalling n8 612 236 953 2141 it was made up of statutory transfers of n 456 458 654 074 and debt service of n2 233 835 365 6991 recurrent non-debt expenditure is n3 494 277 820 219 and contribution to development fund for capital expenditure is n2 427665113222 he said1 goje disclosed that there was additional allocation to security to the tune of n47 billion reduction of deficit n51 billion and health n57 billion1 other additional allocations according to him are power works and housing n107 billion n16 billion to education particularly for infrastructure for the 12 newly-established universities and meal subsidy in unity schools1 he also said that n10 billion was allocated to judiciary while additional provision of n44 billion was allocated to niger delta development commission nddc1 the committee chairman therefore explained that the various additional allocations accounted for the budget increment from n8.61 trillion to n9.12 trillion1 he regretted the delay in the passage of the budget but said that it was not entirely the fault of the national assembly1 lawmakers commented on the budget with james manager delta-pdp saying that to avoid speculations it was important to let nigerians know that the increment in the budget was in consultation with the executive1 sen. lanre tejuoso apc-ogun described the bill as a budget of transformation with the introduction of one per cent consolidated revenue fund crf in the health allocation1 he explained that the implication of the one per cent was that a minimum of 3000 nigerians in each local government area would have their health bills paid for by government1 sen. ita enang the senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters senate confirmed on friday the receipt of the 2018 appropriation bill1 he also said that government spending must continue to grow on issues relevant to the welfare and security of the people1 saraki stressed that government spending should reduce in areas where the private sector was better placed to catalyse progress adding that it would free up funds for education health water and sanitation services among others1 on this note it is with great delight that i announce that the 2018 budget has met the threshold of reserving at least one per cent of total budget to health1 this is historic. we were focused on this commitment of the one per cent set aside for the basic health care provision fund bhcpf. we promised and we have delivered1 for us this is not a commitment to numbers it is a commitment to the health and well-being of our people it is a commitment to making nigeria stronger1 we expect that this will continue and even inch upwards as we work to eradicate malaria and significantly reduce infant and maternal mortality1 the statistics that show nigeria as having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world is not the nigeria we want to leave behind for our children1 the journey starts now let us not look back he said1 saraki emphasised the need for the executive and the legislature to come together especially in the formation and passage of appropriation bill1 he said that while progress had been made in the formation stages a lot more needed to happen to minimise delays and other stumbling blocks in the process1 one of the symptoms of the unhelpful aspects of the prevailing culture hampering the process remains the neglect or refusal of certain agencies of government to honour invitations to budget defence1 it is our hope that we will see a major change in this regard going forward1 the petroleum industry governance bill pigb has been passed it should of course be duly signed and implemented so that our people can reap the full dividends of this landmark legislation1 we would like to see that the process of implementation of the budget starts immediately so that our people will begin to benefit from the objective of the budget and opportunities it opens1 in order for us to have an efficient budget implementation we will advise that agencies of government eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the procurement process he said1 passing the bill at the house of representatives the lawmakers warned the federal government not to engage in extra-budgetary spending unless through supplementary appropriation1 they also barred the government from borrowing without first furnishing the legislature with details of the borrowing plan and obtaining approval1 chairman house committee on media and public affairs rep. abdulrazak namdas who briefed the media on the conditions given to the government said that the house had constituted a conference committee to liaise with the senate on the conditions1 he said that the budget must henceforth run a full circle of 12 months1 we have set up a conference committee to harmonise with the senate based on the new clauses passed by the house1 we believe that a clean copy of the budget will be ready by next week and sent to the president for assent1 namdas explained that the budget was jacked up based on a new oil benchmark of 51 dollars crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of n305 to one dollar1 after close consultation with the executives the increase in oil benchmark was applied in the following critical sectors of the economy reduction of deficit amounted to n50.88 billion security n46.72 billion health n57.15 billion power works and housing n106.50 billion. nan1