Digital Leonard Blog

The Senate and House of Representatives yesterday approved the report of the conference committee on the 2018 budget. At the Senate, the chairman of the Senate committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe) presented the report.  He said out of the six differing clauses, the panel adopted four of the Senate and two of the House. In the House of Representatives, the report of the harmonization committee was laid on the floor at the beginning of plenary by the chairman of the appropriation committee, Mustapha Bala Dawaki (APC, Kano). After considering other items on the Order Paper, the report was adopted at the end of the plenary with Speaker Yakubu Dogara presiding. Dawaki had told the House that the Conference Committee reached agreements on the deferring clauses.

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has called off strike in Lagos, Kano, Yobe and Niger states. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Biobelemoye Josiah (pictured), JOHESU chairman, called on all health workers in the four states  to relax the strike following the “implementation” of the agreement by the states. He also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Isaac Adewole, minister of health, for allegedly taking sides with doctors in the ongoing strike. Josiah demanded a new negotiating team to replace that of Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment. He said being a medical doctor, Ngige has also been compromised in the efforts to end the strike. JOHESU commenced strike on April 17. Part of their demands is the upward review of their salaries to be at same level with the doctors, a request both the federal government and the doctors kicked against. “The federal ministry of health as presently led by Prof. Isaac Adewole has constituted itself as a m...

The national assembly finally passed the 2018 budget on Wednesday, about six months after President Muhammadu presented it. In November, Buhari had proposed N8.6 trillion as the appropriation for the 2018 fiscal year, with N3.5 trillion as recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, while N2.4 trillion was earmarked for capital expenditure. But the lawmakers raised the budget by N500 billion, increasing recurrent and capital expenditure to N3.49 and N2.86 trillion respectively. Why was the budget increased? Danjuma Goje, chairman of the senate committee on appropriation, said the N500 billion increase was informed by the decision to raise the oil benchmark from the proposed N45 to N51 (as against the benchmark price of $44.5 per barrel in 2017 budget). Goje said the additional fund would be spent on some critical sectors, with a breakdown as follows: education, N15.7 billion; judiciary, N10 billion; and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), N44.20 billion. Others are security, N42.72billion...

The 2018 budget is set to face further delay despite its passage by the National Assembly yesterday. Our correspondents report that after the passage of the budget in the House, Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced the setting up of a conference committee to harmonize some ‘little changes’ in the budget with the Senate. Some of the changes, it was observed, had to do with the title of the Appropriation Bill and the date it is to take effect. The lawmakers agreed that the budget should commence immediately after the president assents it into law. The harmonization process may take days to be completed. Further hurdle before the budget also include, transmission of a clean copy for presidential assent, consideration by the executive prior to the assent. In 2017, the budget passage and assent lasted for May 11 to June 12. The 2018 budget details The 2018 budget was passed by both chambers of the legislature yesterday; six months after President Buhari presented the proposal.  The fiscal do...

The House of Representatives will pass the 2018 budget next week, House spokesman, Abdulrazaq Namdas, told journalists during a press briefing in Abuja yesterday. Namdas said the House considers the budget a national interest; hence the need to expedite action to ensure that it was laid before the House on Tuesday and subsequently passed within the week. “We will pass this budget next week. I am not speculating. I am telling you the fact. This is something that has to do with national interest,” Namdas said. Asked why the House has not observed the 3-day protest break in solidarity with victims of herdsmen’ killings as resolved last week, Namdas said the House has not forgotten the resolution.