By Moboluwade Tobiloba
President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Thursday, lay the 2022 Appropriations Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly, barring any last-minute changes.
This was made known by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, during the plenary on Tuesday.
Omo-Agege, who presided over the Senate’s plenary, mentioned the president’s budget presentation shortly after reading a letter from him.
The president, in the letter, sought to make some changes in the recently passed Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) – parameters on which the 2022 budget will be framed.
Buhari said the changes, which he is asking the National Assembly to approve in the MTEF/FSP, is in line with the newly enacted Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The letter and other documents were referred to the Senate Joint Committee on Finance for further legislative work.
While referring to the letter, Omo-Agege directed the panel to speed up action on the president’s request and report back to plenary latest on Wednesday 6th of October.
He said, “The committee should have the report latest by tomorrow…before budget presentation on Thursday.”
A similar announcement was made by the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Full details of the budget are yet to be revealed but it is likely that the Ministries of Works and Housing; Finance, Budget and National Planning; and Defence would get the highest capital allocations.
