Buhari to Present 2016 Budget Before Joint National Assembly Session

President Muhammadu Buhari has written the National Assembly, stating his intention to present the 2016 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives.

According to the letter read by the senate president, Bukola Saraki, Wednesday, Mr. Buhari will
address the lawmakers on Tuesday, at 10 AM.

The session will be the first time Mr. Buhari would address a joint session of the National Assembly since coming to power in May.

The precursor to the budget, Medium Term Expenditure Framework, was forwarded to National Assembly last week.

In the MTEF, the Federal Government proposed $38 per barrel as the benchmark for crude oil.

In a related development, on Monday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said the nation’s 2016 oil production target is 2.4 million barrels.

Mr. Kachikwu disclosed this while defending the petroleum ministry’s projections for 2016 before the Joint Senate/House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Appropriation and Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions.

He also hinted at the government’s plan to revert to the old pump price of N97 per litre of premium motor spirit in gradual process of total subsidy removal.

Mr. Kachikwu also expressed confidence that the price of crude oil would increase as from early January to “around $50 per barrel in spite of OPEC projections”, adding that it might also hit $70 per barrel in 2017.