By Dipo Olowookere
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has disclosed that all things being equal, the 2018 appropriation bill would be passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday April 24, 2018.
The budget was presented to both chambers of the parliament in November 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
There were plans to ensure that the documents, detailing how government plans to spend in the 2018 fiscal year, would be passed before the end of the first quarter of the year.
However, there have been delays in approving the bill by the parliament.
The National Assembly claimed most government agencies failed to come forward to defend their budgets for the year.
Last week, leadership of the parliament held a meeting with the President and this was explained to him.
The President then directed the various MDAs to appear before the various National Assembly committees to defend their budget. In fact, they were given till tomorrow to do so.
Speaking at the lower chamber yesterday, the Speaker, Mr Dogara, hinted that the 2018 budget would be laid out on April 19 and on April 24, it would be passed by both chambers of the parliament.
“We are proposing that we are laying the budget finally on the 19th of April 2018. Hopefully, we will be passing the budget on 24 April 2018. This is a harmonised calendar with the Senate,” Mr Dogara read a notice handed to him by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Sulaimon Yussuff.
President Buhari plans to spend N8.6 trillion in the 2018 fiscal year, which the nation’s biggest ever.
Recall that the 2017 budget was also delayed. It was passed in May 2017 and signed into law by the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, who was then acting as President as a result of a medical vacation to London embarked upon by Mr Buhari.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka