Revealed: Why President Buhari is not in a hurry to sign the budget

– President Buhari awaits details to assent the budget

– The presidency received budget without sectoral details on what was appropriated

File Photo of President Buhari during the presentation of the 2016 budget.

President Muhammadu Buhari had yet to receive details of 2016 national budget that was recently passed by the National Assembly.

While the leadership of the National Assembly handed over the bill to the presidency for agreement before it went on recess, the bill, however, did not contain details and sectoral breakdown.

READ ALSO: Finally! Senate passes 2016 budget

A source in the presidency clarified that while Buhari is anxious to sign the bill, he would only do so after the National Assembly help him of the details which were not contained in what was handed over.

He said: “I can confirm to you that we have received the bill since Wednesday but there were no sectoral details on what was appropriated.

“There is no way the president can sign the bill into law without a thorough knowledge of the details. He has asked for the details from the leadership of the National Assembly. As soon as he gets this, I’m sure members of his economic team will look at it and advise on whether to assent the bill or not.

“I know Nigerians are anxious to see the budget matter resolved as soon as possible. We are also anxious but we have to be pragmatic about it. Without the details, how do you expect the president to have a firm grasp of what he was signing? I know the National Assembly is on recess but it should be a problem as all that is required is an instruction to the relevant officers to dispatch the details of the bill to the presidency.”

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The National Assembly had last week passed a harmonised budget of N6.06tn, cutting about N17bn off the initial N6.077tn proposed by President Buhari on December 22, 2015.
Following the passage of the budget by the National Assembly, the budget now awaits the president’s assent to become an Act and be operational.

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