FINALLY, PRESIDENT BUHARI SIGNS 2018 BUDGET INTO LAW

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2018 Budget into law.  

At the ceremony today (Wednesday, June 20, 2018) in Abuja, President Buhari decried the adjustments made to the initial estimate proposed in November, last year by the National Assembly without recourse to the Executive.

President Buhari, who expressed his desire to send a supplementary budget to address the adjustments, renewed his desire to return Nigeria to the January-December Budget Circle.

He however stressed that the 2018 Budget which has just been signed into law, provides for aggregate expenditures of 9.12 trillion Naira, which is 22.6% higher than the 2017 Appropriation.   

Further details of the approved budget will be provided by the Minister of Budget and National Planning.

You will recall that the nine-point-one-two-trillion-naira budget, is five hundred billion naira higher than the 8.6-trillion-naira proposed by President Buhari to the National Assembly on November 7, 2017.

The national assembly passed the appropriation bill on May 16, this year, following delays by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies to defend their budget estimates.

Meanwhile, a cross section of Nigerians have been expressing divergent views and expectations from the federal Government as President Muhammadu Buhari signs the 2018 appropriation bill into law.

Some say the federal government to dwell more on the education and health sector, as well as initiate policies that will encourage more investors; while others predicted more hardship if the government continues to use the same approach it has used in the last two years. 

However, financial analysts expect that the 2018 budget will reflect government’s commitment to restoring the economy on the path of sustainable growth even as the President has said the 2018 budget will consolidate on the achievements of previous budgets and deliver on Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan for 2018 to 2020.

In the meantime, the federal government says about one-point-six-trillion-naira was released for capital projects in the 2017 Budget.

Announcing this on Tuesday in Abuja, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said the capital costs was released to Ministries, Departments and Agencies last year.

She added that Power, Works and Housing received the highest chunk of over 523billion naira, while 197billionnaira went for Defence, and Security.

Agriculture and Water Resources got 149billion naira just as 126billion naira was expended on Transportation.

Similarly, Health and Education got over 98billion naira, while other sectors of the nations’ economy received 485billion naira.

The Finance Minister made the revelations in a statement by the ministry’s spokesman, Hassan Dodo.  It said the 2017 budgetary releases far exceeded the amount released in 2016.    (see the President's full speech in my earlier post)