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President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow at 11am present the proposed N13.08trn 2021 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The announcement was made yesterday at both chambers of the National Assembly following the receipt of a letter from the president to the leadership of the National Assembly. The letter addressed to the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, states: “May I crave the kind indulgence of the Distinguished Senate to grant me the slot of 11:00hrs on Thursday, 8th October, 2020, to formally present the 2021 Appropriation bill to the Joint Session of the National Assembly. While I look forward to addressing the Joint session, please, accept Mr. Senate President, the assurances of my highest regard”.
With this development, the Senate will consider and pass the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) today Wednesday, which is a pre-condition for the presentation of the annual budget to the National Assembly. LEADERSHIP reports that the ritual of annual budget presentation traditionally takes place at the more expansive Green Chamber of the House of Representatives wing of the National Assembly.
It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, approved a budgetary proposal of N13.08trillion for the 2021 fiscal year.
The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, made this known when she briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Council meeting last week.
Therefore, barring a last-minute change of plan, President Buhari will present the approved 2021 budgetary estimates to the joint session of the National Assembly for consideration and subsequent passage into law for the next fiscal year starting in January 2021.
Source: leadership.ng
