President Muhammadu Buhari has presented an N8.8trn budget for 2019 on a day the lawmakers got further divided on political lines.
Presenting the document containing the figure Wednesday during the 2019 budget presentation before a joint session of the National Assembly, Buhari said that the amount is higher than the N8.6 initially proposed.
The budget is predicated on $60 per barrel of oil benchmark at 2.3m litres per day, a GDP growth rate of 3.01 percent and inflation rate of 9.98 percent.
Buhari said the NNPC has been directed to take all measures to achieve the targeted 2.3m oil output per day.
It was a rowdy session all the same when Buhari arrived the hallowed chambers with the lawmakers taking sides according to their party loyalty.
While the APC lawmakers praised Buhari, the PDP loyalists jeered at the president including singing a song that is anti him.
Buhari was forced to tell the opposition lawmakers that “the world is watching us and we are supposed to be above this.
PDP lawmakers had booed the President while their APC counterparts hailed him as he spoke on some of the achievements of his government.
Buhari was occasionally interrupted by the lawmakers such that he had to cut his presentation.
Events came to ahead when a fight broke out earlier between a PDP lawmaker and APC lawmaker in the House before the arrival of the President.
Bashir Babale of APC was engaged in physical brawl with PDP lawmaker, Doye Diri, who was preparing placards with which they planned to protest when Buhari arrives.
PDP lawmakers also booed the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, when he called the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, aside apparently to pacify him.