Nigeria's president presents 2012 budget proposal to National Assembly 

Goodluck Jonathan

Nigeria's president presents 2012 budget proposal to National Assembly 
Obiora Ani and Williams Osewezina, Abuja

The Nigerian government has proposed a budget of 4.749 trillion Naira for its services in 2012.

Presenting the Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan, said the budget was predicated on Oil production of 2.48 million barrels per day, benchmark oil price of 70 dollars per barrel, Exchange rate of 155 Naira to the Dollar, Projected Gross Domestic Projected growth rate of Seven point Two percent and projected inflation rate of Nine point Five percent.

The budget has a modest increase of six per cent from the 2011 budget which was 4.484 trillion Naira.

Petroleum subsidy removal

Voice of Nigeria Senate Correspondent, Obiora Ani, reports that President Goodluck Jonathan was however, silent on the removal of the age long Petroleum Subsidy from next year.

The exclusion of the petroleum subsidy allocation in the budget further confirms that subsidies on petrol will likely be abolished this month, sending prices of petrol to figures in the region of between 140-150 Naira per litre from the current 65 Naira per litre.

The House will now deliberate on the proposal and return the proposal to the President after their deliberations.
‘Stepping stone to Nigeria's transformation’

While delivering his speech before the presentation, Jonathan said that "the 2012 budget will be a stepping stone to Nigeria's transformation".

Speaking earlier, the Senate President, David Mark pointed out that over the years, Nigerians have listened to beautiful and impressive budget speeches but expressed resentment that the implementation has not matched the words as economic policies lack continuity with project needlessly discarded or abandoned.

He expressed hope and belief that the 2012 budget would challenge those in power and Nigerians as a whole. To take the challenges, he said: “We must ensure that all sectors and every Nigerian irrespective of position or status is involved.”

Mark promised that the National Assembly would use its oversight functions to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the 2012 budget to the latter.

The Senate President remarked that Nigeria has "what it takes to be a world power, but we have never really tasked ourselves in this regard."

The Speaker of the House of Representative, Mr Aminu Tambuwal said that the National Assembly would looked into the budget in due time to ensure that the implementation began in good time.

"The 2011 elections, the inauguration of the new administration as well as constitutional amendment processes, all affected the full implementation of the 2011 budget...the 2012 budget will be a stepping stone to Nigeria's transformation," President Jonathan said.

Listen to the presentation

The 2012 Fiscal year budget breakdown:

Capital Expenditure: N1.32 Trillion
Recurrent (non debt) Expenditure: N2.472 Trillion
Statutory Transfer: N398 Billion
Debt servicing: N560 Billion

Other sectors

Security: N921.91 Billion
Power: N161.42 Billion
Works: N180.8 Billion
Education: N400.15 Billion
Health: N282.77 Billion
Agriculture: N78.98 Billion
Water Resources: N39 Billion
Petroleum Resources: N59.66 Billion
Aviation: N49.23 Billion
Transportation: N54.8 Billion
Land and Housing: N24.9 Billion
Niger Delta: N59.7 Billion
Science and Tech: N30.84 Billion
FCT : N45.59 Billion
Communication and ICT: N18.31 Billion