Date Fixed For President Buhari’s Final Budget Presentation

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to present the proposed N19.76 trillion budget for 2023 fiscal year before the National Assembly in the first week of October.

Naija News reports that the Speaker disclosed this on Wednesday when he inspected the ongoing renovation of the National Assembly complex ahead of the delivery deadline of August 2023.

Gbajabiamila said the Federal Government plans to spend N19.76 trillion in 2023, according to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier presented to the National Assembly.

He warned that the quality of work on the National Assembly complex must not be compromised.

He said though the renovation, which began last month, had progressed well, he would still ask the project managers to speed up the pace and beat the deadline.

At the chamber, Gbajabiamila was briefed on the details of the upgrade and the adjustments to be made to the sitting areas of lawmakers, the chamber staff, the presiding officers, the press gallery, the roof and the adjoining rooms to the chamber.

After the inspection, Gbajabiamila said the changes introduced were “impressive” and would greatly assist the lawmakers in their legislative duties in line with global standard.

He said, “This work started in August, a few weeks behind schedule, but for a good reason.

“So far between August and now, giant strides have been made; you can see the whole chamber has been ripped apart, and the innovations are going to be state-of-the-art.

“We will be proud to have a chamber that matches the best standard all over the world; so I am quite impressed with the work so far.

“I would encourage them to double the pace because, as it is, this is not for the benefit of the 9th Assembly but for the benefit of the 10th Assembly.

“The whole chamber isn’t going to be ready until sometime in August next year; so we are talking close to a year, and that tells you the level of work that is going on.”