Oscarline Onwuemenyi
08 May 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Senate President, Dr. Bukoka Saraki, and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, have disclosed that the 2018 budget will be passed next week.
Both leaders of the National Assembly revealed this after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting which lasted 30 minutes, Saraki said they hoped the budget would be laid this week and passed next week.
Responding to a question on when the budget would be passed, the Senate president said, “Well, hopefully, it should be laid this week. If it can be laid this week and passed early next week, but we are hoping it will be laid this week.”
This latest announcement by the National Assembly leadership contradicts the earlier date the House of Representatives set for the passage of the budget.
Last week, Rep. Abdulrazaak Namdas, spokesman of the House of Representatives, said the budget would be laid before the lawmakers on Tuesday and passed within the week.
“By next week (ie. this week), everything about the budget will be treated and passed,” he had said.
But addressing state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari alongside Yakubu Dogara, Saraki said the lawmakers are “hoping to pass the appropriation bill next week.”
Both chambers of the National Assembly had promised to pass the N8.6 trillion budget on April 24 but failed to do so
Prior to the promise, there had been complaints from the lawmakers that the government ministries, agencies and departments were frustrating their efforts to pass the budget in time.
