Nigeria will again be able to start the 2021 budget cycle by January following the assurance by the President of Senate, Ahmed Lawan that next year appropriation bill will be passed by the second week in December 2020.
The federal lawmakers achieved the feat last year when it passed the current year’s budget in December 2019, well ahead of time for its implementation in January 2020 as it broke from the past when budgets were passed in the first or second quarter of the year they are meant for.
Lawan also assured that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PiB) will be passed before the end of June 2021 to bring a refreshing breath to the oil and gas industry.
“We are working to pass the 2021 budget by the second week of December by the Grace of God,” Lawan said at a retreat for top management staff of the National Assembly and National Assembly Service Commission.
“We are working very assiduously, we will ensure that there is every possible scrutiny of the budget estimates presented to us by the Executive arm of government.”So far, we achieved that in the 2020 budget. We believe we did the right thing. We promised Nigerians that we will do that and it is going to be part of our legacy in the Ninth National Assembly,” Lawan said.
President Muhammadu Buhari presented an N13.08 trillion budget to the National Assembly on October 8, a week after it was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and the federal lawmakers, have since, suspended other legislative activities to create time for the defence of the budget by the ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) so as to meet up with the passage deadline of December 2020.
The fiscal policy which is 17.2 per cent higher than the 2020 budget of N10.8 trillion has $40 oil benchmark and also FX target of N379/$, an inflation target of 11.95 per cent, and 29 per cent, with a deficit of N4.48 trillion
On the PIB which the Senate President said will be ready by the second quarter of 2021, he noted that “The PIB which is one of the most essential legislations that we have to have in this country, we intend to pass it by the Grace of God before the end of the second quarter of next year.
“We will take our time because this is a very delicate and sensitive piece of legislation. We will take our time to ensure that what comes out of the National Assembly in the PIB is a product of legislation that will ensure that Nigeria earns it’s revenues from this industry as it should and of course also support our business people, the oil companies that are investing and infact retain and encourage new ones to come to Nigeria to invest.
“So it has to be a win-win for all of us. We will not be selfish as a country, trying to take everything”.
“Oil is like water now. Almost every country now has oil. So if you don’t provide a competitive environment in Nigeria, oil companies will have no difficulty relocating to other countries. So we will ensure that we have a competitive environment for business and for investment,” Lawan said.
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