Budget 2018 Here's what recently passed appropriation bill means for Nigerians

On May 16, 2018, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill, otherwise called the budget.

The budget was approved after the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and the House moved for its consideration.

playPresident Muhammadu Buhari presents budget to joint sitting of national assembly (Twitter/MBuhari)

President Muhammadu Buhari presented the N8.6trillion 2018 budget to a joint session of the national assembly on November 7, 2017.

Why was the budget passage delayed by parliament?

Passage of the budget by the national assembly was delayed because representatives of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) didn’t show up before lawmakers when summoned to defend their estimates.

The presidency has been yearning to run a January-December fiscal budget. But with the passage of the budget in May, five months into the New Year, all that talk of a 12 month budget is now dead in the water.

The budget was increased by lawmakers

It may also interest you to know that in passing the budget, the national assembly jacked up the estimates presented by Buhari in 2017.

The 2018 budget now contains line items that will cost Nigeria N9.120 trillion--indicating a N508billion increase from what President Buhari presented last year.

Let’s break down the figures in the 2018 budget

Statutory transfers: N530,420,368,624

Debt servicing: N2,203,835,365,699

Recurrent expenditure: N3,512,677,902,077

Capital expenditure: N2,873,400,351,825

Fiscal deficit: N1,954,464,993,775

Why was there an over N500B increase?

The Senate Committee on Appropriation said the additional N508billion became necessary after the oil benchmark was raised from $47 to $51.

playPresident Buhari with presiding officers of national assembly (Presidency)

According to Senator Danjuma Goje, Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, the additional billions of Naira will come in handy in some critical sectors.

Which are the sectors getting all the money?

National Assembly: N139billion (from N125billion in the 2017 budget)

Education - N15.7 billion

Judiciary - N10 billion

Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) - N44.2 billion

Security - N42.72 billion

Health - N57.15 billion

Works, Power and Housing - N105. 50 billion

Wait, the 2018 budget is not law just yet

Yes, that’s because Buhari is yet to assent to the 2018 Appropriation Bill as passed by the national assembly. Until he does, the budget will just remain another document on the shelf of the senate.

After this week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, announced that President Buhari is yet to receive the budget from the national assembly.

“We are yet to receive the budget. So it will be impossible for anybody to have made a statement from the executive about the budget until we actually receive the budget and go through the budget”, Udoma said.