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Tag: 2023 appropriation bill

  • President Buhari to sign 2023 budget on Tuesday

    President Buhari to sign 2023 budget on Tuesday

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been penciled down to sign the 2023 appropriation bill on Tuesday January 2nd.

    Senate President, Ahmad Lawan,  made this known while addressing State House correspondents on Friday after a closed-door meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Lawan also disclosed that he discussed some national issues with the President, including the legislature’s support to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2023 elections, and Buhari’s recent additional loan request, among others.

    According to him: “We’re looking forward to Mr President signing the Appropriation Bill 2023, by the grace of God, on Tuesday.

    “This is because we signed the document yesterday, having lost some time because of some anomalous figures we had in the bill presented to the National Assembly.

    “But thank God, the NASS [National Assembly] in both chambers passed the Appropriation Bill 2023 on Wednesday.

    “And the first thing on Tuesday, I believe that Mr President will be signing the Appropriation Bill 2023.”

  • JUST IN: Reps shift passage of 2023 budget

    JUST IN: Reps shift passage of 2023 budget

    The House of Representatives has shifted the passage of the 2023 budget to December 28. The reason, it was learnt, is to tidy up some key ends in the very important money bill.

    The lawmakers initially planned to pass the N20.5 trillion budget on Thursday (today) before proceeding on their Christmas/New Year break.

    However, during plenary on Thursday, the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, announced a slight change in the plan, urging members to adjourn for Christmas but to return on December 28 for the singular assignment of passing the budget.

    “We just have to come back on Wednesday. We will come back for the one item of passing the budget; that’s all. Then, we can proceed on break fully”, he stated.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had laid the estimates of the budget before a joint session on of the National Assembly in Abuja on October 7.

    Lawmakers, desirous of sustaining the January-December budget cycle, made a pledge to pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill this December.

  • OIL THEFT: Nigeria now Africa’s fourth largest oil producer

    OIL THEFT: Nigeria now Africa’s fourth largest oil producer

    Nigeria’s crude oil output hampered by theft has fallen from 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year to 900, 000 bpd as of September 2022, plunging the country to fourth place among largest oil producers in Africa, behind Angola, Algeria and Libya.

    Historically, Nigeria has been the largest exporter of oil in Africa, even though a lack of infrastructure has long hindered Nigeria from being able to export at 100 per cent capacity. In recent times, oil production in the country typically varies between 1.4 and 1.6 million bpd.

    Theft of oil in Nigeria is not a new problem but has grown over the last two decades. Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari, claimed Nigeria was losing up to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

    The implication of this startling revelation is that Nigeria is losing more than half of its production, as the unaccounted 600, 000 bpd is 67 per cent of the current 900, 000 bpd output, presenting a bleak future for the most populous country in Africa.

    Nigerian authorities are worried over this disturbing record as the National Assembly considers the country’s 2023 appropriation bill which is predicated on a daily oil production estimate of 1.69 million bpd, with a projected N1.92 trillion oil revenue.

    But Kyari has said that the country was not helpless and recent clampdown on oil bunkers was yielding progress. A total of over 3.76 million litres of crude oil and 458,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil have been recovered, thereby denying oil thieves a total of over N2.1 billion worth of stolen crude oil and products.

    “What is most difficult to manage today and daring for us to live with is the issue of crude oil theft, (but) we’re not helpless and our efforts are paying off,” Kyari said.