Senate Suspends Debate On 2018 Budget

The Senate on Tuesday announced the deferment of debate on the 2018 budget submitted to the joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari about 2 weeks ago.

This is contrary to its earlier plan to commence debate on the general principles of the budget.

Senate President and leader of the National Assembly, Bukola Saraki, made the announcement at the commencement of Tuesday’s legislative business.

He told the lawmakers that the deferment was done so as to enable the Upper Legislative Chamber pass the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), this week.

He also said that the deferment will allow the National Assembly’s bureaucracy distribute copies of the budget proposal to members of the House.