The Nigerian Senate, on Wednesday has passed the 2022 budget appropriation bill.
The red chamber during today’s plenary passed N17.126 trillion as against N16.391 trillion which was presented by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2021.
The Senate while passing the bill also increased the benchmark price of crude from $57 to $62 per barrel.
The breakdown of the budget showed that N3.8 trillion is pegged for debt service, N6.9 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure while N5.4 trillion is for capital expenditure.
The bill was passed after a report presentation by the Chairman, Committee of Appropriation, Senator Barau Jibrin.
Jubrin, during the presentation said the increase in the budget from N16 trn to N17trn was due to the current “economic realities.”
Speaking after the passage of the budget, President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, commended his fellow lawmakers particularly the committee on Appropriation for working to restore the budget cycle back to January to December.
“We thank Almighty God for helping us achieve that. Let me commend this senate for standing tall. We are rounding the year on a very high note, we passed the PIB and it is not an act, something that was not passed for over 20 years.
“We passed the electoral bill but we know there are some reservations, so we will look at it with the house of representatives. I am sure that this Senate and the National Assembly has done a lot in legislative intervention,” Lawan said.
