Senate to Pass Buhari’s Revised 2022 Fiscal Framework Thursday

 Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Senate will on Thursday, pass the revised 2022 fiscal framework before adjourning for the Easter break. 
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, stated this after the report of the Committee on Finance was stepped down Wednesday for consideration. 
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who moved a motion for the report to be stepped down, explained that its deferred consideration till Thursday, April 14, 2022, would allow lawmakers make their inputs.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in the letter dated April 5, 2022, requested the Senate to adjust the 2022 fiscal framework.
He said doing so became necessary in view of new developments in both the global and domestic economies.
He said the developments were occasioned by spikes in the market price of crude oil, which were a fallout of the Russian-Ukraine war. 
He, therefore, requested the upper chamber to approve an increase in the oil benchmark by US$11 per barrel, from US$62 per barrel to US$73 per barrel.
The president also sought a reduction in the projected oil production volume by 283,000 barrels per day, from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.600 million barrels per day.
He also urged the chamber to approve an increase in the estimated provision for petrol subsidy for 2022 by N3.557 trillion, from N442.72bn to N4.00trn.
Buhari underscored the need for a cut in the provision for federally funded upstream projects being implemented by N200 billion, from N352.80 billion to N152.80 billion.
He proposed an increase in the projection for federal government independent revenue by N400 billion; and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the Nigerian Police Force.
In a related development, the Senate also stepped down consideration of a bill to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act.
The chamber, however, considered three bills which scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday.
The bills seek to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Health Sciences Azare, Bauchi; Federal College of Education, Jama’re, Bauchi State; and to repeal the Immigrations and Prisons Services Board Act and to Enact the Internal Affairs Services Board Act.
The bills were sponsored by Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano North) and George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East). 
The bills after consideration were referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Health (Secondary and a Tertiary); Tertiary Institutions and TETfund; and Interior, respectively. 
The committees were all given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.