Barely seven months of trifling and associated delays had the two chambers of the National Assembly passed the 2018 budget totalling N9.120, 334,988,225.
Observers say the until Nigerian work towards passage of annual budgets within the first week of a new year, investors’ decision will continue to be undermined by delays in budget passage which remains an issue in driving ease of doing business even as preached by the current government.
The budget figure surpassed the original figure sent by the executives with over N500 billion higher than the N8.612 trillion proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari to the joint session of the Assembly in November last year.
However, Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, defended the rise, saying “The increase was done after close consultation with the executive.”
Making his remarks shortly after the unanimous passage, Senate President Bukola Saraki called for immediate implementation “so that our people will begin to benefit from the objective of the budget and the opportunities it offers.”
Also, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara urged the executive arm of government to ensure expeditious implementation of the budget.
Sectoral Details stand as follows:
Ministry of Power, Works and Housing received N682,959,550,242
Ministry of Transportation, N251,420,000.000
Ministry of Defence, N157,715,439.613
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, N149,198,139.0 37
Ministry of Water Resources, N147,199,614,645
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, N105,156,176,854
Ministry of Education got N102,907,290,833
Ministry of Health, N86,482,848,198
Ministry of Environment, N17,492,955,833
Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, N58,082,611,977.
Whereas the Federal Government’s special intervention programme got N150,000,000,000; grants and donor funded projects, N169,919,791,292; leaving allocations for zonal intervention projects at N100,000,000.
The National Judicial Council, the Universal Basic Education and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also got approval for statutory transfer worth N139,500,000,000; N109,063,630,546; and N81,882,555,891.