National Assembly 2017 budget

The legislators have passed the 2017 Appropriation Bill but not before jerking up the spending limit for the National Assembly from N115billion submitted by the Executive arm of government to N125billion. The two Chambers had in fact increased the projected aggregate expenditure by about N143billion having adjusted upwards by $2 per barrel the crude oil price benchmark. While it is easy to appreciate the increased allocation to the Niger Delta Amnesty programme and the provisions made for some critical capital projects such as the Abuja Airport runway, the Itakpe-Warri rail line as well as the need to cater for arrears of Corps members’ allowances, not a few Nigerians are struggling to understand the rationale behind the N10 billion added to the budget of the National Assembly. more