- Buhari Will Sign 2018 Budget Next Week – Adesina
President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2018 Appropriation Act into law next week.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
The presidential spokesman stated this after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, presided over by Buhari.
He, however, did not give the specific day and time the document would be signed next week, adding that the details would be made available later.
“The budget will be signed next week. We will give you the specific date when it is confirmed,” Adesina said.
The Presidency had said Buhari would only take a stand on the document based on the advice he was expecting from the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma.
It said all ministers were expected to scrutinise the budget as passed against the proposals they submitted and report their findings to Udoma.
It added that the budget and national planning minister would thereafter form an opinion based on the feedback from his colleagues and proceed to advise the President accordingly.
Udoma himself had in a recent interview with State House correspondents said the Executive was reviewing the document.
He added that the Executive arm of government had a 30-day window to decide what to do with the document.
“The President is currently reviewing the budget. As you know, we have a minimum window of 30 days,” the minister had stated.
Pressed further on when the budget would eventually be signed, Udoma had said, “The President is currently reviewing it and as soon as he is through, he will sign it. That is what l can tell you for now.”
The two chambers of the National Assembly had recently passed the budget and transmitted it to Buhari for signing.
The lawmakers raised the total figure from N8.6tn to N9.1tn, six months after it was presented to them.
