It’s April 25 – But Nigerian Lawmakers Are Yet To Pass 2018 Budget As Promised

Lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly have failed to pass the 2018 Appropriation Bill on Tuesday, April 24, as promised and the days have begun to count thereafter.

Last month, the National Assembly announced that the country’s 2018 budget will be laid before both chambers on April 19 and subsequently passed on April 24.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had made the announcement on Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

According to him, the harmonised date was decided by the both chambers of the National Assembly.

However, as of Tuesday, no issue regarding the budget was brought up in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.


Some top sources have blamed the development on the late appearance of some heads of MDAs to defend their budget proposals, saying it made the subcommittees of both chambers to also submit their budget reports late to the Appropriation Committees.

Findings also showed that reports of subcommittees were still being collated by the Appropriation Committees for onward submission to the Senate and House in plenary for passage into law.
A source who said that a lot of work still needed to be done on the submissions by subcommittees told The Nation that “I am sure that the Appropriation Committees of the two chambers are working round the clock to effect their submissions.”
President Buhari had on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 presented the 2018 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The President during the presentation proposed a budget of N8.612 trillion for the year 2018, an increase of about 15 per cent from the N7.44 trillion budgeted for last year.

The figures were contained in the 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which Buhari had earlier sent to the National Assembly in compliance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.