In a letter to the National Assembly, which was read in both chambers
on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan requested that the Finance
Minister should be allowed to present the budget on his behalf on
December 17.
The President also requested that the Senate should consider the
budget at the same time with the revised Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) which was also sent to the National Assembly with a
revised figure of $65 dollars oil benchmark price.In a separate letter, President Jonathan explained that the developments in the international oil market, which necessitated further revisions of the benchmark price of crude, resulted in a resubmission of the MTEF to the National Assembly.
Plenary resumed after a two-week break given to the lawmakers to allow them take part in their various parties’ primaries.
In the House of Representatives, the Minister of Finance was seen leaving a meeting she had with the Speaker of the House, Mr Aminu Tambuwal.
After the meeting the plenary began and the Speaker read the letter from the President to the House.
The Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, however, raised a point of order on the matter, wondering why the President wont present the budget himself.
After deliberations on the issue, the Speaker ruled on the issue, giving consent to the request for the Finance Minister to present the budget.
Nigerians are looking forward to seeing how much government will spend in 2015 and how it intend to increase its revenue despite the falling oil prices.
The executive arm of the government had been forced to review the oil benchmark price as a result of the dropping oil price.
The government said it had put strategies in place to help cushion the effect of the drop in oil price on the economy.
Critics have said that the 2015 budget had been delayed beyond reasonable time, considering how long it would take the National Assembly to debate on the budget before approval
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