By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The passage of the 2018 Appropriation Bill suffered another setback on Thursday, November 30, 2017, after the Senate shifted consideration of the report of the Joint Committee on Finance, Appropriations and National Planning and Economic Affairs on the 2018-2020 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) in accordance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
Explaining the rationale behind this, the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary today, said the upper parliament wants to await outcome of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria, to decide on benchmark price for crude oil in the international market.
The report is now to be considered on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, the Deputy Senate President announced on Thursday.
A member of the Senate, Mr John Enoh, who was to present the report to his colleagues, was also away for the OPEC meeting, where decision would also be made on the oil production cap for Nigeria, which is very critical for the budget.
The Senate said outcome of the meeting would be very vital in the consideration of the MTEF.
On October 19, 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari sent the 2018-2020 MTEF and FSP to the Senate for consideration.
Earlier this month, President Buhari presented a budget proposal of N8.6 trillion to the National Assembly.
Of the amount, N456.46 billion is for statutory transfers, N2.23 trillion is for debt service, N3.49 trillion is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, while the sum of N2.43 trillion is earmarked for contribution to the development fund for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2018.
The 2018-2020 MTEF and FSP must be passed before the 2018 appropriation bill could see the light of the day.
