Finally, 2016 budget ‘to be passed March 17’

The controversy surrounding the 2016 budget may finally be coming to an end as both arms of the national assembly fix March 17 for its passage.

The budget, which has been in the centre of many controversies, is said to have been deliberated and defended by various ministries, agencies and departments.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, Abdulmumin Jibrin, chairman of the house of representatives’ budget committee, said the budget would be presented to the national assembly on March 16.

“We should be able to lay our report of the 2016 appropriation bill before the house and the senate on the 16th of March and the consideration, hopefully should be done on the 17th,” he said.

“So it is safe for us to conclude that the 2016 appropriation bill will be passed on the 17th of March 2016. We are going to open in the next few days’ consultation with the relevant stakeholders in this process, most especially the executive arm of government.”

The budget, with an oil price benchmark of $38 and oil production levels of 2.2 million barrels per day, has been referred to as overly optimistic, considering current realities in the global oil market.

President Muhammdu Buhari, who presented the budget before the joint session of the national assembly, said after numerous controversies that he was going to punish those responsible for “padding the budget”.

“The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a military governor, petroleum minister, military head of state and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund,” Buhari had said.

“Never had I heard the words ‘budget padding.’ Our minister of budget and national planning did a great job with his team. The minister became almost half his size during the time, working night and day to get the budget ready, only for some people to pad it.

“What he gave us was not what was finally being debated. It is very embarrassing and disappointing. We will not allow those who did it to go unpunished.”