Buhari To Present N19.7trillion 2023 Budget To National Assembly On Friday

President Muhammadu Buhari will present the 2023 budget to the joint National Assembly legislature on Friday.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the plenary on Tuesday, said that the presentation of the N19.76 trillion budget will take place at 10am at the temporary chambers of the House of Representatives.

Recall that in October 2022, Buhari presented N16.39trillion.

The oil benchmark for the 2022 appropriation was $57 per barrel, while the exchange rate was N410.5 per dollar in the budget proposal titled, “Budget of Economic Growth and Sustainability”.

The budget was projected to stimulate GDP growth by 4.2 per cent, while inflation rate was put at 13 per cent. It was projected oil production would be at 1.88million barrels per day including condensates.
The budget deficit was estimated at N6.23trillion.

Meanwhile, the Buhari government reneged on all its projections with the oil production in million barrels per day dropping to an abysmal 900,000 barrels per day.

While presenting the budget, Buhari had said, “Defence and internal security will continue to be our top priority. We remain firmly committed to the security of life, property and investment nationwide. We will continue to ensure that our gallant men and women in the armed forces, police and paramilitary units are properly equipped, remunerated and well-motivated.

“The 2022 budget is also the first in our history, where MDAs were clearly advised on gender responsive budgeting. These are part of critical steps in our efforts to distribute resources fairly and reach vulnerable groups of our society.

“Distinguished Members of the National Assembly, the 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper sets out the parameters for the 2022 Budget as follows;

“Conservative oil price benchmark of 57 US Dollars per barrel; daily oil production estimate of 1.88 million barrels (inclusive of Condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day); Exchange rate of four 410.15 per US Dollar; and projected GDP growth rate of 4.2 percent and 13 percent inflation rate.

“Based on these fiscal assumptions and parameters, total federally-collectible revenue is estimated at N17.70trillion in 2022.”

While Buhari spoke, some of the lawmakers were captured dozing off, in a manner which suggested that they were not bothered with the rhetorics of the Buhari regime.