Buhari to present 2020 budget on Tuesday

President Muhammadu Buhari will present the 2020 budget to the national assembly on Tuesday.

The president said this via a letter addressed to the leadership of the assembly. The letter was read at both chambers during Thursday’s plenary.

While addressing journalists, Adedayo Adeyeye, senate spokesman, said the president will arrive the national assembly at 2pm.

“Next Tuesday by 2 p.m., the president will come to present the budget,” he said.

“Plenary will hold but we will adjourn early and move to house of representatives so we can attend to the president.”

Adedayo expressed optimism that the 2020 budget will be passed before Christmas break and implementation will take place between January and December.

If the budget is passed before the end of 2019, this would mean Nigeria will now return to its original budget cycle that runs from January to December.

The senate spokesman also said the lawmakers will ensure all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) do not delay the passage of the budget.

“All MDAs will have to suspend what they are doing to defend their budget once the budget has been presented,” he said.

The lawmakers had earlier approved N10.73 trillion as the federal government’s total estimated expenditure for 2020, after considering the 2020-2020 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) report submitted by Buhari.

They adopted 2.18 million barrels as daily production output in 2020 and approved $57/barrel as crude oil benchmark price for the fiscal ear 2020.