* Plateau Massacre: Senate Summons Service Chiefs
The National Assembly has approved N28.77 trillion naira, about ($34 billion) budget for 2024 on Saturday, accepting a funding increase which the government had sought due to higher revenue forecasts and a weaker currency.
President Bola Tinubu had initially presented a 27.5 trillion naira budget to lawmakers, projecting a deficit of 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) and assuming an average exchange rate of 750 naira per dollar.
But at a special sitting on Saturday, the Senate and House of Representatives separately debated the budget and resolved to adopt it with the changes sought by the government.
The government said it expected more revenue from government-owned enterprises and now expected an average exchange rate of 800 naira to the dollar, which would boost export income. Economic growth is forecast at 3.88%.
Tinubu campaigned on a promise to revive the country’s struggling economy but the citizens have endured increased hardships this year after the president removed a decades-old petrol subsidy and scrapped currency controls, helping to push inflation to its highest level in two decades.
The budget will be sent to Tinubu on Monday to be signed into law.
Nigeria has struggled with high deficits over the years due to low tax revenue and falling production of oil, its biggest export, forcing the government to borrow more.
Africa’s biggest economy is also in the grips of widespread insecurity, which has worsened in some places since Tinubu came to office.
Nigerians are waiting on the president to spell out how to tackle the problem, that us fast deteriorating.
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The lawmakers separately debated last week’s attacks by suspected herdsmen in central Plateau state, which left at least 140 people dead and resolved to invite security chiefs to explain the circumstances around the incident.
Senate Summons Service Chiefs
The Senate on Saturday summoned all service chiefs to give account of what transpired on the Plateau where over 200 Nigerians were killed on Christmas Eve.
Earlier the House of Representatives minority caucus had raised an alarm three days ago demanding for a halt on the bloodlettings in the state.
The caucus advised NASS to use all available legislative weapons to halt the drift in the North Central state.
The chiefs summoned are Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Director-General DSS, Inspector General of Police, and National Security Adviser.
According to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the invited chief are to have a close door session with the Senate to explain the reason for the attack in Plateau State.
