Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the National Assembly lacks power to inject
new projects or modify the 2017 budget.
Osinbajo,
who signed the 2017 budget into law on Monday, said the National Assembly only
has the right to allocate funds for projects in the budgetary proposals
submitted by the Executive arm of government.
He had,
after signing the budget on Monday, explained that he delayed the signing
because of the disagreements the Executive over the changes introduced into the
document by the Legislature.
Osinbajo
spoke yesterday during the flag-off of the 2018 budget and ERGP Implementation
Plan Development Process by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning at the
old Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.
He also
stressed on the need for full attention by all ministers, permanent secretaries
and heads of government agencies to the details of the budget. Osinbajo, who described the 2017 budget as
very crucial, said President Muhammadu Buhari is very concerned with the budget
and its full implementation.
He said: “I
am sure we understand not just how to do it right, but to get it done in good
time.
“The
president presented the budget last December. Despite the assurances that it
will be passed in by February, it was not until May.
“As it
turned out, we were quite disappointed that it spent a bit of time before it
was approved.
“And,
thereafter, we had to go into negotiations with the National Assembly in order
to get it right. Now, there are these
two broad issues about who can do what. The first report is about who can do
what. When you present budget to the National Assembly, it is presented as a
bill, an appropriation bill.
“And
secondly, do not introduce entirely new projects and all of that or modify
projects. This is something that we experienced last year and this year. It now
leaves the question about who is supposed to do what.”
Osinbajo
signed the N7.441 trillion 2017 budget, christened Budget of Growth and
Recovery, which was approved by the National Assembly on May 11, raising it
from N7.298 trillion to N7.441 trillion. The budget was submitted to the
Presidency on May 19.
The federal
government is set to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
the Federation of N7.441 trillion.
Of that
amount N438,412,952,249 will be for statutory transfers. N1.841,345,727,206
will be for debt service, N177,416,296,707 will be for a sinking fund for
maturing bonds, N2.987,550,3436 will be for recurrent non-debt expenditure
while N2.177,866,775,867 will be
Development Fund for capital expenditure exclusive of capital expenditure in
statutory transfers for the year ending on December 31, 2017.
The budget
has a revenue projection of N5.08 trillion, while the projected fiscal deficit
of N2.36 trillion will be financed largely by borrowing.
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