The Nigerian Senate has approved the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), documents that provide the framework of designing a budget as enshrined in section 11 (3) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

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The Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Adeola Solomon who presented the report, said the committee recommended the daily production output of crude oil at 2.18 million barrel per day, USD $57 per barrel as crude oil benchmark for the fiscal year 2020.

However, the Senate frowns at under disclosure of the electronic-collection of stamp-duties by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as the conduct of the NNPC which it described as shrouded in secrecy.

Other lawmakers in their contributions called on the government to guide against stealing of government revenue while Senator Rochas Okorocha, advocated the reduction of the cost of governance by allowing only one senator to represent each state.

At the end of the debate on the matter, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, acknowledged that lack of funds has always been responsible for the poor implementation of the budget in the country.

Lawan also stressed the need for economic diversification that will take the pressure off crude oil.