The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, said all committees must submit their reports to the appropriations committee by 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The House of Representatives will pass the 2024 budget on 30 December, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has said.

Mr Tajudeen said on Tuesday at the resumption of the plenary that lawmakers will have to return after the Christmas holiday to consider and pass the budget.

In Nigeria, 25 and 26 of December are recognised as Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. Both days are usually declared public holidays.

Mr Tajudeen stated that all committees must submit their reports to the appropriations committee by 6 p.m. on Tuesday (today) to meet the 30 December deadline.

"I want to inform you that the official laying and passage of the budget will be slated for Saturday 30 December 2023.

"In between, all other activities like harmonisation and compilation and processing of the bill will take place. Those of you who may want to go for Christmas are to come back to participate," the speaker said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that President Bola Tinubu presented the 2024 budget proposal of N27.5 trillion budget to the joint session of the National Assembly in November.

Following its second reading, the House referred the bill to the appropriations committee for further legislative actions.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers have an uphill task to ensure the passage of the bill before 1 January to keep up with the January to December budget cycle.

The House had on 1 December adjourned plenary till 12 December to allow committees to conduct public hearings on the budget proposal. The adjournment was extended by one week till 19 December.