It would be Difficult to Get 100% Implementation of 2016 Budget – FG

It would be Difficult to Get 100% Implementation of 2016 Budget – FG

Nigerians should not expect 100 percent implementation of the 2016 budget, the federal government said on Friday moment after it was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

According the Punch, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, told journalists that the journalist was signed late into the year and therefore it would be difficult to implement it fully.

He said, “Our own will always be 100 per cent implementation. We know that because we started late, we may not achieve it but that is our aim.

“We will start off with that aim because the budget is a law so we will try and implement it as faithfully as we can. However, the reality is that we may not (achieve it) because we started late.

“In subsequent years, we will start earlier to give us a better chance of implementing the budget in full. But we will do our best.”

He said in order to avoid the pitfalls that caused the delay of this year’s budget, the government would work hard to ensure that the National Assembly gets the 2017 budget proposal by October.

This, he said, would afford the government the opportunity of implementing from January to December.

“Two weeks ago, the ministry presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council and got approval for a timetable for the budget. So, as we are finishing with this budget, we are starting on 2017.

“Our intention is that the budget should reach the National Assembly early in October to give them enough time to pass it before the end of the year.

“The most important time for road construction is the dry season. So, if you can get the budget in December, you can now start early to implement. Our intention is to get us back to a situation where we can have a full January to December implementation for the budget.

“We are working hard on the timetable to achieve this. It is also going to be much more extensive consultation with the National Assembly prior to the budget being presented, extensive consultations with non-governmental organisations NGOs that will help us to speed up the process of getting the budget approved.”