- Senate has finally laid the report of 2018 budget estimates
- President Buhari had on November 7 presented the budget to a joint session of the National Assembly
- It was gathered that the budget was jerked-up from N8.612 trillion to N9.120 trillion
Six months after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the draft copy of the N8.612 trillion 2018 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly on November 7 last year, the Senate on Tuesday, May 15, laid the report.
Vanguard reports that the report of the committee on appropriations was laid by the chairman, Senator Danjuma Goje representing Gombe central.
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NAIJ.com gathered that the presentation of the report was seconded by the chairman, Senate committee on public accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide representing Edo south.
It was gathered that the budget would be passed this week, just as moves to do that is largely believed by concerned Nigerians to have arisen as a result of May 31 set as deadline for life span of the N7.444trillion 2017 budget.
The six months the 2018 budget estimates has spent in the National Assembly has been the longest period for consideration of an appropriation bill so far since year 2000 when a full fledged yearly budget was first presented to it.
Independent also reports that the National Assembly has jerked up the 2018 budget to N9.120 trillion, saying that the details of the budget were listed on the order paper.
The report had it that the breakdown of the budget, which was laid before both chambers on Tuesday, May 15, showed that the sum of N530,421,368,624 is for statutory transfer while N2,203,835,365,699 is for debt service.
It also added that the sum of N199 billion is for sinking fund for maturing loans; N3,516,477,902,077 is for recurrent (non debt) expenditure while N2,869,600,351,825 is for development fund capital expenditure.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that Nigerian Senate rescheduled its planned deliberations on the proposed 2018 budget submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Source: Naija.ng