2018 budget: 12 things to know

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed the country’s budget of 9.12 trillion naira today on Wednesday.

The spending plan was approved by the two chambers of the National Assembly and was passed to the presidency on May 16, 2018.

SOURCE: BudgIT Nigeria

Here are important facts about the 2018 budget:

1. The 2018 budget is 22.6% higher than the 2017 Budget.
2. It was signed on the 171st day of the year, which makes it the longest budget in the history of Nigeria to be passed by legislative and signed into law by the President so far to get signed.
3. The 2018 Budget N8.26 trillion proposal was presented by the president to the National Assembly on November 7, 2017.
4. The national assembly delayed the signing of the budget for six months and as well increased the budget by N508 billion.
5. The budget has capital expenditure (roads, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure) of N2.87 trillion.
6. The national assembly cuts N347 billion in the allocations for 4,700 projects and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion.
7. The national assembly increased their own budget with N14.5 billion. The lawmakers budget increased from N125 billion to N139.5 billion.
8. Funds meant for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.
9. 5 billion Naira was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage Adjustment.
10. Completion of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport will further delay because funds meant for it was reduced from 2 billion Naira to 500 million Naira.
11. About seventy new road projects were added into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing by the National Assembly
12. The Take-off Grant for the Maritime University in Delta State, a key strategic initiative of the Federal Government, was cut from N5 billion to N3.4 billion.