By Henry Umoru

A draft budget framework for 2017 submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari is based on unrealistic assumptions about oil production and the currency exchange rate, the Senate said yesterday.

The budget plans include spending a record N6.866 trillion to pull the economy out of recession, assume oil production of 2.2 million barrels a day and an exchange rate of N290 to the U.S. dollar.

“There is no doubt that the assumptions are not realistic. Even in times of peace, we cannot achieve 2.2 million barrels per day.

“Our responsibility is to work on it and do the right thing. The spending plans would be referred to Senate committees on Finance, Appropriation and National Planning to be reworked,’’ Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said yesterday.

The Senate’s position came as President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to present the budget before a Joint session of the National Assembly on December 1.

Ahead of the appearance of the President before the National Assembly, the Senate, in spite of attacks by lawmakers who picked holes in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) submitted by the President in October, has begun discussions on the documents.

The documents which formed the basis for the planning of the 2017 budget, were referred to the Senate Committees on Finance, Appropriations and National Planning for further legislative job and subsequent presentation to the Senate.

Meanwhile, during debate on the documents, majority of senators who spoke, declared the documents fraudulent, unrealistic, insincere, and non-transparent, even as they said  the documents lacked credibility and called for serious rejigging if they must meet the present economic realities.

News of the President’s appearance before the National Assembly was disclosed yesterday by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (PDP Akwa Ibom North West), while making contributions to debate on projected assumptions made by the Presidency in the 2017-2019 MTEF.

Akpabio gave this indication when he was seconding the motion for the Senate to consider and approve the 2017, 2018 and 2019 MTEF and FSP presented before the Senate.

He said: “Yesterday, you made reference to the fact that the President may be coming to the chambers to submit and read the 2017 budget on December 1.

“If that is the case and we send this (MTEF) back for reworking by the Presidency, it means that we will not be able to meet that deadline. But if we send it to the committee level, they may come up with something within the next three days that will be more realistic ahead of the budget presentation itself.”

Akpabio had, before making the disclosure, pleaded with the Senate not to throw out the MTEF document based on its unrealistic projections as raised by majority of the senators, advising that it should be committed to relevant committees of the Senate, based on the submissions that would be made by the various agencies that may be invited by the committees.