Nigerian parliament on Thursday passed a record $34.72 billion 2020 budget for President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government.
The senate at the plenary passed the N10.59 trillion 2020 budget after consideration by the House Committee on Supply, chaired by Dr. Ahmad Lawan.
On October 8th, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari presented N10.33 trillion ($33.8 billion) before a joint sitting of the National Assembly. It was later jerked up by the lawmakers to N10.59 trillion.
![President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2020 Budget presentation to the joint session of the National Assembly [Twitter/@HouseNGR]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'790'%20height%3D'573'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2020 Budget presentation to the joint session of the National Assembly [Twitter/@HouseNGR]")
The benchmark price for crude oil was also increased from $55 to $57.
The 2020 budget has a deficit of 1.52% of the estimated gross domestic product - representing around N2.18 trillion ($6.03 billion) to be financed through foreign and domestic borrowing.
In a series of tweets via its official handle, @NGRSenate, the senators asked the federal government to immediate start the implementation process.
Here are some of their words:
“Now that budget has been passed and all the laws being amended, the focus should now shift on pursuing revenue to ensure the implementation of the budget.”- Senator Bassey Akpan.
“What is important is the immediate execution of this budget. The issue of oversight should be non-negotiable . We should remind the executive that in this 9th Senate we will take the issue of oversight more serious.”- Senator Rochas Okorocha.
“I congratulate everyone for their commitment & for the hard work. I want to thank the executive arm of government for the unprecedented urgency that they have presented the budget & we hope that highest preparations will be done towards the 2021 budget.”- Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi.
“I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to all my Distinguished colleagues who worked really hard to make sure that this budget sees the light of the day within the time frame that we have set for ourselves.”- Senator Yahaya Abdullahi.
“I commend the chairman and members of the Appropriations Committee. The Committee has worked within the parameters to ensure they give a budget that will work for the common man and a budget that will take us to the next level.”- Senator Solomon Adeola.
“I support that we pass this budget today but I want to make an appeal to have an executive session after we pass this budget to address some issues that affect all of us.”- Senator Gabriel Suswam.
“This appropriation prioritizes what we are all clamoring for and that is security. If you look at the budget, the security takes a lion share. I want to commend the Committee and urge my colleagues to support this wonderful Bill.”- Senator Stella Oduah.
“The first is the exchange rate, the next year budget should also find a way of addressing unemployment. Nigeria has not shown interest in environmental issues and this year has about N9billion for the whole of environment.”- Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
“I will like to thank the Committee and leaders of the National Assembly for making this possible. In looking at this budget there were a lot of constraints and we would have also done better in some areas.”- Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
“I rise to support and commend the chairman and members of Appropriations Committee. By the grace of God, let us pass this one today even if it takes us till midnight, we must finish it.”- Senator George Sekibo.
At the end of its last monetary policy committee meeting for 2019, CBN MPC members advised the government to reconsider its 2020 budget oil price benchmark of $57 per barrel.
The committee believed this will help the government to build fiscal buffers as market forecasts remain relatively weak for global oil prices.
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