The brief ceremony witnessed by Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and chairmen of the National Assembly Appropriation committees, ended months of bad blood the document had generated between the Executive and the Legislature over allegations of ‘budget padding’ traded between the two arms of government.
According to a statement by Akpandem James, Media Adviser to Budget and Planning Minister, “the Key Revenue Assumptions of the Bill as proposed by the Executive was retained by the National Assembly.
“Also, all the key revenue assumptions proposed by the Executive are retained, including the benchmark oil price of $38 per barrel, oil production volume of 2.2mbpd and exchange rate of N197/US$. “An aggregate budget of N6.06 trillion was passed by the National Assembly and given assent by the President. The Executive had proposed N6.077, implying a decrease by about N17 billion. This implied a reduction in the fiscal deficit from 2.16% of GDP to 2.14% of GDP.”
A Presidential aide, Bashir Ahmaad, also confirmed via his Twitter handle that the document was signed into law, Friday afternoon.
“The #Budget2016 was signed into law at exactly 12:32pm by President Muhammadu Buhari inside his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.” — Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) May 6, 2016.
It would be recalled that President Buhari had on December 22, last year presented the budget of N6.08 trillion for the fiscal year 2016 before a joint session of the National Assembly, the first time in three years that a Nigerian president had personally presented a budget to the National Assembly.
That development was followed by controversies of withdrawals, alleged padding, and denials as the legislature and the executive failed to harmonize positions on projects and estimations contained in the budget.
President Buhari had on three occasions refused to sign the document opting to send it back to the National Assembly for amendments, with the later also refusing to approve based on alleged additions inserted by the executive arm, and also questions of workability of the document. President Buhari had suspended assent after some changes were noticed in the document.
The National Assembly had in April transmitted details of the budget to the President after it had passed the bill on March 23, but the President returned the document, citing omission of certain capital projects. This was worked on and sent back, but again the Presidency refused to sign.
Available report has, however, revealed that all grey areas have now been addressed and the budget has been signed.
Following the signing ceremony, Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has commended Nigerians for their patience while awaiting presidential assent to the 2016 Appropriation Act and promised that the National Assembly will ensure its proper implementation through diligent oversight.
Saraki who Friday joined Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other top government officials in witnessing the signing of the budget into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, said the responsibility is now that of both the executive and the legislature to ensure that the objectives and goals of the budget are duly realized.
He called on ministers, heads of departments and agencies to hit the ground running with the implementation of the various provisions made in the budget so that the expectations of the people can be fulfilled.
“On our own part as members of the National Assembly, we will closely monitor the implementation of the budget by providing effective oversight. We will also ensure that all necessary laws that will aid the transformation of the contents of the budget into practical policies, projects and programmes that will directly have positive impact on Nigerians will be put in place.
“That is why we have started the amendment of the Public Procurement Act to ensure that a substantial percentage of the money to be spent in the budget are made available to Nigerians through government patronage of Made-in-Nigeria goods and services.”
The Senate President thanked Nigerians for their continued support for the present administration and promised that now that the budget has been signed into law people will start seeing the positive impact on the economy and their standard of living.
Saraki restated the National Assembly’s commitment to early passage of subsequent budgets since the President had promised earlier presentation.