There are strong indications that the National Assembly will pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill next week.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, both indicated earlier this week that the Federal Government budget would be passed on Thursday, when lawmakers were scheduled to leave for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
According to sources, the House Appropriations Committee will not release its report on the spending bill on Thursday.
The report’s laying was not listed on the Order Paper for the day.
Several lawmakers blamed the delay on the 2022 Finance Bill and Supplementary Appropriation Bill recently transmitted to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
The President, Muhammadu Buhari, had only on Wednesday transmitted the Finance Bill, while the supplementary budget was received by the parliament on Thursday.
With the development, there is uncertainty over the maintenance of the January-December budget cycle, which the current 9th National Assembly restored three years ago.
After the National Assembly passes and transmits the budget back to the Executive, the relevant ministries, especially the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, usually scrutinise the content before the president signs it into law, a process that sometimes takes weeks.