The long awaited report on the 2017 budget proposal has been presented to the Senate in plenary by the joint committee on appropriation and finance with Senate President Bukola Saraki promising that it will be considered and passed on Thursday, May 11.

The report was presented on Tuesday by the chairman of the appropriations committee, Danjuma Goje, almost five months after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly in December 2016.

After the Senate must have passed the document, it will then be harmonized by a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives before it would be transmitted to the President for signing into law.

A visibly elated Saraki, during the plenary boasted that this is the first time since 1999 that the Appropriation Bill will be presented with details, adding that soft copies of the document will also be made available.

“Hard copies will be given tomorrow and the bill will be passed on Thursday,” according to a post on the official twitter handle of the Senate.

Similarly, at the House of Reps, the Chairman on Appropriation Committee, Mustapha Dawaki also laid the report of the 2017 budget before the House in plenary.

The committee is proposing a figure of N7.44 trillion for the 2017 budget instead of the N7.298 trillion proposed by the executive.