In order to avoid the kind of undesirable delay which bedevilled the recently signed 2017 Budget, the executive is working towards submitting next year’s budget and having it passed by the National Assembly before the end of 2017.
In order to avoid the kind of undesirable delay which bedevilled the recently signed 2017 Budget, the executive is working towards submitting next year’s budget and having it passed by the National Assembly before the end of 2017.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this during his remarks Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after signing the 2017 Budget, tagged “Budget of Economic Recovery and Growth.”
According to Osinbajo, “on the understanding that we will be submitting the 2018 Budget to the National Assembly by October 2017, the leadership of the National Assembly has committed to working towards the passage of the 2018 Budget into law before the end of 2017.”
The delayed 2017 Budget was presented to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016. The budget was however not passed until nearly five months after on May 11 and was only signed on June 12.
The executive is hoping to avoid a repeat.
The National Assembly is also similarly disposed to ensuring an early passage of the 2018 budget.
In his contribution just before the passage of the current year’s budget, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had urged the executive to present the budget for 2018 early enough to enable the National Assembly return to the budget cycle of January to December.
Meanwhile, the Acting President was full of praise for the improvement in the process leading to the preparation of the 2017 budget.
Comparing the current budget to the last which was enmeshed in “padding” allegations, Osinbajo noted that “the process of preparing and processing this Bill was much smoother than the 2016 Appropriations Bill. On the executive side, there were no allegations of errors or mistakes, and there was a significant improvement in the quality of the preparation, as well as the presentation.”
