Buhari receives details of 2016 budget

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday received details of the 2016 Appropriation Bill from the National Assembly.

On Wednesday, the chairmen of the Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, Danjuma Goje and Abdulmumin Jibrin respectively, submitted the budget details to the clerk of the National Assembly for onward transmission to the president.

The document was jointly delivered to the Presidential Villa by the Senior Special Assistants to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang and Kawu Sumaila, at about 12:05pm on Thursday.

The document was received by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, who signed on behalf of the President in his office.

The minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, was also present to receive the document.

After signing, they proceeded to present the document to the president and later returned it to the office of the Chief of Staff, where he is expected to transmit it to the relevant ministries for review.

Approached by journalists after he presented the document to the president, Mr. Enang confirmed that the document had finally been transmitted.

“We have transmitted it to the office of the president and the constitutional process of timing starts,” he said.

The 2016 budget, submitted by the president on December 22, 2015 before a joint session of the National Assembly, was approved on March 23.

However, only highlights were transmitted to the president after the March 23 passage.

Mr. Buhari had also said he would not sign the budget in a hurry, but would critically review the document before assenting to it.

“Some bureaucrats removed what we put in the proposal and replaced it with what they wanted,” Mr. Buhari said.

“I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, ministry by ministry, to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission.”