- By Kenneth Udeh from Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has adjourned legislative activities for the year 2021 and also passed the 2022 budget.
As announced during Wednesday’s plenary session the parliamentarians are expected to resume on January 18, 2022.
The Senate held plenary for a short period on Wednesday– at which it considered and passed the 2022 budget.
After a short break, they reconvened and took the votes and proceedings of the day before adjourning.
Earlier, The Senate, on Wednesday, approved a N17.126trn budget for the 2022 fiscal year, this was after it increased the budgetary expenditure by N800 billion.
The passage of the budget followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Appropriations on the 2022 Appropriations bill.
Recall that the House of Representatives passed the budget on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari had submitted a budget of N16.391 trillion to the National Assembly.
Also , The Senate raised the oil benchmark to $62 as against the $52 that was proposed by the executive, while the exchange rate was retained at N410.15.
It said the increase in oil price was to reflect the current market values of the oil barrel in the international market.
In his presentation, Chairman of the Committee, Jibrin Barau (APC – Kano North), while giving highlights of the bill, said out of the total sum of N17.126 trn for the fiscal year 2022, N869.6bn is for Statutory transfers; N3.8trn is for Debt Service; N6.9trn is for Recurrent Expenditure; and N5.4trn for Capital Expenditure.
