The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has insisted that the National Assembly would pass the 2024 appropriations bill on December 30 to sustain the January-December budget cycle.

He spoke at a session with journalists in Iyin Ekiti, his country home.

The Chairman of the Southern Senators Forum in the Ninth National Assembly said all federal lawmakers would have to cut short their holidays to ensure speedy passage of the 2024 appropriations bill.

Providing further updates on the 2024 appropriation bill, the senate leader said, "We have been sitting beyond our regular sitting days. We have sat on Saturdays. We may even sit on Sunday as we are approaching another year. We only give ourselves three days to go home and celebrate Christmas.

"We are reconvening on December 29. Our hope and determination is to pass by December 30. On January 1, 2024, Mr President will have the 2024 appropriation bill at his desk for assent so that its implementation can take off in earnest," Bamidele explained.

The senate leader expressed concerns about the activities of economic saboteurs who were either doing everything to keep exchange rates high against the naira or trying to make the naira unavailable to the people who kept their money in banks.

He, however, said that the federal government would go after economic saboteurs who made lives difficult and unbearable for Nigerians next year.