The 2018 Appropriation Bill scaled second reading in the Senate following the conclusion of debate on the Bill at its plenary session of Tuesday, 5 December 2017. The Bill has now been referred to the Committee on Appropriation and other Senate Standing Committees (now working as sub-committees of the Committee on Appropriation) for further legislative action and budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Speaking on the 2018 Appropriation Bill, the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki (APC: Kwara) who presided over the plenary session, mandated the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the various Committees to adhere to the time frame of 2 weeks to report back its findings. Sen. Saraki called on MDAs to honour the invitations of respective Committees during the budget exercise to enable timely presentation of reports.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had presented the 2018 Budget at a Joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, 7 November 2017 and that the Senate had commenced debate on the Budget on Tuesday, 28 November 2017. During the debate, the Senate had focused on increasing the oil benchmark price from $45 per barrel as proposed by the Executive in the 2018 Budget to $47 per barrel to reflect global increase in oil prices.

The Committee on Appropriation is expected to report back to the Senate on Tuesday, 19 December 2017