BEVERLY HILLS, April 30, (THEWILL) – The National Assembly will transmit the passed N8.92 trillion 2019 Appropriation bill to President Muhammadu Buhari this Thursday, the House of Representatives said Tuesday.
Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Mustapha Dawaki, who briefed the media on the development in Abuja said federal lawmakers increased the appropriation from Buhari’s initial proposal of N8.83trn due to the inclusion of funds for “special interventions’’.
He said that the interventions included the provision of N24.6 billion as severance allowance for outgoing lawmakers and N10 billion for Zamfara terrorism.
He also explained why consideration and approval of the proposed appropriation was delayed.
“The President laid this budget on Dec. 18, 2018, but certain extraneous forces such as the Christmas and New Year breaks also affected quick passage of the Appropriation Bill.
“And, don’t forget that we had to go on break to fully participate in the February polls; all these were distractions that really affected the passage of the Appropriation Bill.
“Hopefully, by Thursday the budget will be transmitted to the president for his assent.
“We left the oil benchmark and exchange rate as sent by the executive, except for the deficit which we adjusted,’’ Dawaki said.
