Senate Receives Buhari’s Requests To Present 2020 Budget

Related stories

Tinubu Departs Saint Lucia, Heads to Brazil for BRICS Summit

By Abiola Olawale President Bola Ahmed Tinubu departed Saint Lucia...

2027: Drama, Intrigues as Julius Abure Tells Otti to Quit Labour Party

By Abiola Olawale In a dramatic turn of events, Barrister...

FG Secures $100m for Lagos-Calabar Project from ECOWAS Bank

By Abiola Olawale The Nigerian government has reportedly secured a...

Ex- Arsenal Star Thomas Partey Faces Rape, Sexual Assault Charges in UK

By Abiola Olawale The Metropolitan Police have formally charged former...

Edwin Cortes: Prefers Being A Small Puerto Rican Than Big American

By Owei Lakemfa To be a citizen of the United...

The Senate has received a written request from President Muhammadu Buhari to present the 2020 Appropriation bill before a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The request, which was dated October 2, 2019 and addressed to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, was read at plenary on Thursday.

The letter reads: “May I crave the kind indulgence of the Distinguished Senate to grant me the slot of 1400 hours on Tuesday, 8th October, 2019, to formally present the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the Joint session of the National Assembly.

“Please accept, Mr. Senate President, the assurances of my highest regards, as I look forward to addressing the Joint Session.”

Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday passed the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

The document, which is usually the basis for the annual budget proposals, was forwarded to the National Assembly last week by President Buhari.

The Senate made 16 recommendations to the Executive following consideration of the report of the Joint Committees on Finance and National Planning.

The Senate in its recommendations proposed N10.729 trillion as total estimated Federal government expenditure of the Federal, as against N10.002 trillion.

It also recommended daily oil production of 2.18 million barrels in 2020, as well as $57 per barrel as benchmark for the fiscal year.

Also, the upper chamber recommended that the revenue target of the Nigerian Customs Service of N942.6 billion for 2020 be increased to N1.5 trillion.

According to the Senate, the sum of N557.4 billion from the revenue increment of the Nigeria Customs Service be used to reduce borrowing by N200 billion increase on capital expenditure.

The Senate left unchanged the exchange rate of N305 to $1, just as proposed by the Executive for economic stability.

It recommended that the saving on income accruing from the increase of the benchmark amounting to N172 billion, which represents the Federal Government portion of the $2 added to the benchmark, be used to pay salaries and emoluments for the proposed 30,000 new employees by the Federal Government.

The upper chamber insisted that proper investigation be carried out on the e-collection stamp duty domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria for the past years, so as to show probity and accountability, and of course, increase the revenue base of the country.

The Senate further called for proper investigation on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, so as to ascertain the actual cost associated with joint venture agreements.

In his remarks after the passage of the MTEF/FSP proposals, the Senate President called on the Federal Inland Revenue to widen its tax net and also stressed the need to diversify the economy.

Lawan said: “We have lost so much ground over the years. Time has come to diversify this economy, oil is becoming something else, it is not going to be a darling of anyone.

“So we need to have an economy that provides jobs for everybody and create wealth. This includes diversifying in agriculture, solid minerals and tourism.”

Senator Lawan also charged committees of the National Assembly to ensure accountability in the procurement process.

He said: “We must ensure that our procurement process is properly monitored. This budget should give us that opportunity.

“There must be efficiency, prudence in the way and manner we do procurement.”

'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide's journalism works intersect business, environment, politics and developmental issues. Among a number of local and international publications, his work has appeared in the New York Times. He's a winner of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Award. Currently, the Online Editor at The New Diplomat, Akintomide has produced reports that uniquely spoke to Nigeria's experience on Climate Change issues. When Akintomide is not writing, volunteering or working on a media project, you can find him seeing beautiful sites like the sandy beaches that bedecked the Lagos coastline.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories

NDN
Latest News
Tinubu Departs Saint Lucia, Heads to Brazil for BRICS Summit2027: Drama, Intrigues as Julius Abure Tells Otti to Quit Labour PartyFG Secures $100m for Lagos-Calabar Project from ECOWAS BankEx- Arsenal Star Thomas Partey Faces Rape, Sexual Assault Charges in UKEdwin Cortes: Prefers Being A Small Puerto Rican Than Big AmericanJune 12 And The International Pursuit of Justice For Abiola, By Femi FalanaBreaking Down the West’s $146 Billion 2024 Defence Technology InvestmentG7 vs. the World: GDP, Population, and Military StrengthUS drillers cut oil and gas rigs for 10th week in a row, Baker Hughes saysExclusive! Tinubu Tips Late Ajimobi's Wife, Florence, Others for Ambassadorial PostsTinubu Mourns, Pays Tribute to Legendary Super Eagles Goalkeeper Peter RufaiNatasha vs Akpabio: Court Orders Senate President To Recall Senator NatashaHadi Sirika Denies Defection to ADC Coalition Rumors, Reaffirms Loyalty to Buhari, APCChina Snubs U.S. Crude for Third Month, Even as Ethane Trade RestartsHow Super Eagles Icon Peter Rufai passed Away at 61
X whatsapp