Senate To Consider Buhari’s Request For $73 Oil Benchmark, N4trn Fuel Subsidy Thursday.
The Senate will Thursday consider a new oil benchmark of $73 for the 2022 budget and also the increase of fuel subsidy to N4 trillion as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The chamber indicated on Wednesday when it announced that it would approve the Revised 2022 Fiscal Framework ahead of adjournment for the Easter break.
Senate President, Ahmadof Lawan gave the hint after the report of the Committee on Finance on the revision of the budget breakdown was stepped down for consideration on Wednesday.
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who moved a motion for the report to be stepped down, explained that its deferred consideration till tomorrow, Thursday, April 14, 2022, would allow lawmakers to make their inputs.
President Buhari had in a 5th April 2022, letter, requested the Senate to adjust the 2022 fiscal framework.
He said doing so became necessary given new developments in both the global and domegivenmies.
According to him, the developments were occasioned by spikes in the market price of crude oil, which were a fallout of the Russian-Ukraine war.
He, therefore, requested the upper chamber to approve an increase in the oil benchmark by US$11 per barrel, from US$62 per barrel to US$73 per barrel.
The President also sought a reduction in the projected oil production volume by 283,000 barrels per day, from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.600 million barrels per day.
He also the chamber to approve an increase in the estimated provision for PMS subsidy for 2022 by N3.557 trillion, from N442.72 billion to N4.00 trillion.
President Buhari underscored the need for a cut in the provision for Federally-funded upstream projects being implemented federally funded from N352.80 billion to N152.80 billion.
He proposed an increase in the projection for Federal Government Independent Revenue by N400 billion; and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the Nigerian Police Force.
In a related development, the Senate also stepped down consideration of a bill to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act.
The chamber, however, considered three bills that scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday. They are the bills that seek to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Health Sciences Azare, Bauchi; Federal College of Education Jama’re, Bauchi State; repeal the Immigration and Prisons Services Board Act and enact Immigrational Affairs Services Board Act.
They were sponsored by Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano North) and George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East).
The bills after consideration were referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Health (Secondary and a Tertiary); Tertiary Institutions and TETfund; and Interior, respectively.
The Committees were all given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.
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