President Tinubu To Present 2024 Budget In November

President Bola Tinubu is all set to present next year's budget to the National Assembly in November, and it will be passed before Dec. 31.

Solomon Adeola, senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, made the announcement during the inaugural meeting of the committee on Wednesday and shared that the National Assembly will make sure that the budget is passed before the year ends.

"I know we have it on good authority that the supplementary budget would be sent by the executive in the next couple of hours to the National Assembly," Adeola said, Punch reported.

He further shared that the president will present the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in one or two weeks.

"I find it very important to call for an inaugural meeting so that we can know one another," he added.

Adeola also acknowledged that the presentation of the budget will be late, explaining that it's because of the change in administration.

"I want you to take cognizance of the change of government on May 29," he said. "There is a teething problem because there is a change of government. The new administration has a new mantra that encapsulates its vision and there must be challenges."

Despite this, the Senate will verify everything thoroughly, according to him.

"Our job is to verify the budget to meet the expectations of the people. We will look into it thoroughly," he said. "We are expecting the MTEF next week and immediately we receive the document, the Committee on Finance will go into work and look into it."

He noted that Wale Edun, who serves as the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy of Nigeria, has been working round the clock to ensure that the traditional cycle of January to December won't be broken.

"I assure you that we won't break the tradition, we will have the budget as and when due. We will keep to the tradition of the January-December budget cycle," Adeola said.

The senator then pointed out that there is no budget padding, noting that a "budget has to do with the nomination of projects to the budget document that will meet the yearnings and the needs of the people, I would not regard that as padding."

"It is still part of a government document, we will look into and it has an expectation. The budget has an estimate but implementation is another thing. So, I don't believe in budget padding, it never exists in my dairy," he said in conclusion.

Nigeria is going through a tough time, as the fuel subsidy removal has caused a negative impact on the citizens. The gas prices increased after President Tinubu announced fuel subsidy removal on May 29.