President Muhammadu Buhari has presented the sum of N7.298 trillion as appropriation for 2017.
While presenting the budget at a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, President Buhari said:“We will continue to fortify our defence spending till all our enemies within and without are subdued.”
He said: “The people who voted for us are waiting for us to change the course of this nation.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara received President Buhari during the 2017 Budget Appropriation Bill presentation traditionally done in the House of Representatives chambers.
President Buhari in the budget, benchmarked the 2017 budget at N305 naira against one US dollar ($1) with 2.2 million barrels.
The 2017 budget proposal is estimated at N7.298tn, representing 20.4% increase over the 2016 estimate.
Buhari said: ” We are increasing funding to the judiciary in order to allow them function even better.” N100 billion is allocated to judiciary. Buhari also Benchmarked Oil Price at $42.5 per barrel and said that, “In 2017, we will focus on the development of infrastructure, especially rail, road and power.”
In the budget, provisions for capital expenditure is N2.24tn. Health took N51 billion, Industry took N81billion while Defence took N140 million.
Buhari said he expected the 2017 budget to better the lives of Nigerians than that of 2016, saying the budget would take Nigeria out of recession.
He put the estimated aggregate revenue for 2017 at N4.94 trillion.
