President Muhammadu Buhari on
Wednesday signed the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law.
Recall that the National Assembly
had passed the budget on May 16, seven months after the President submitted the
proposals to the lawmakers.
However, Buhari while signing the
bill at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, lamented that it took long before the
Appropriation Bill was signed.
He anchored the delay on the slow
pace of legislative “review process.”
Read Buhari’s full statement
below…
“I would like to thank the
leadership of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate President and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as all the Distinguished
Senators and Honourable Members, for passing the 2018 Appropriation Bill, after
seven months.
“When I submitted the 2018 Budget
proposals to the National Assembly on 7th November 2017, I had hoped that the
usual legislative review process would be quick, so as to move Nigeria towards
a predictable January-December financial year. The importance of this
predictability cannot be overemphasized.
“While the Federal Government’s
budget represents less than 10% of aggregate yearly expenditures in the
economy, it has a very significant accelerator effect on the financial plans of
other tiers of government, and even more importantly, the private sector, which
mostly operates on a January-December financial year.
“Notwithstanding the delay this
year, I am determined to continue to work with the National Assembly towards
improving the budgeting process and restoring our country to the
January-December fiscal cycle.
“I note, with pleasure, that the
National Assembly is working on the enactment of an Organic Budget Law, so as
to improve the efficiency of the nation’s budgetary process.
“As I mentioned during the
presentation of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, we intend to use the 2018 Budget
to consolidate the achievements of previous budgets and deliver on Nigeria’s
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.
“It is in this regard that I am
concerned about some of the changes that the National Assembly has made to the
budget proposals that I presented. The logic behind the Constitutional
direction that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that, it is the
Executive that knows and defines its policies and projects.
“Unfortunately, that has not been
given much regard in what has been sent to me. The National Assembly made cuts
amounting to 347 billion Naira in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted
to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting
to 578 billion Naira.
“Many of the projects cut are
critical and may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced
allocation. Some of the new projects inserted by the National Assembly have not
been properly conceptualized, designed and costed and will therefore be
difficult to execute.
“Furthermore, many of these new
projects introduced by the National Assembly have been added to the budgets of
most MDAs with no consideration for institutional capacity to execute them or
the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required.
“As it is, some of these projects
relate to matters that are the responsibility of the States and Local
Governments, and for which the Federal Government should therefore not be
unduly burdened.
“Such examples of projects from
which cuts were made are as follows:
“The provisions for some
nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as Counter-part
funding for the Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the
East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta
Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.
“Similarly, provisions for some
ongoing critical infrastructure projects in the FCT, Abuja especially major
arterial roads and the mass transit rail project, were cut by a total of 7.5
billion Naira.
“The provision for Rehabilitation
and Additional Security Measures for the United Nations Building by the FCT,
Abuja was cut by 3.9 billion Naira from 4 billion Naira to 100 million Naira;
this will make it impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill
its commitment to the United Nations on this project.
“The provisions for various
Strategic Interventions in the health sector such as the upgrade of some
tertiary health institutions, transport and storage of vaccines through the
cold chain supply system, provision of anti-retroviral drugs for persons on
treatment, establishment of chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis
consumables were cut by an aggregate amount of 7.45 billion Naira.
“The provision for security
infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools across the country were cut by 3 billion
Naira at a time when securing our students against acts of terrorism ought to
be a major concern of government.
“The provision for the Federal
Government’s National Housing Programme was cut by 8.7 billion Naira.
“At a time when we are working
with Labour to address compensation-related issues, a total of 5 billion Naira
was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage
Adjustment.
“The provisions for Export
Expansion Grant (EEG) and Special Economic Zones/Industrial Parks, which are
key industrialization initiatives of this Administration, were cut by a total
of 14.5 billion Naira.
“The provision for Construction
of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport was cut from 2 billion Naira to 500
million Naira which will further delay the completion of this critical project.
” The Take-off Grant for the
Maritime University in Delta State, a key strategic initiative of the Federal
Government, was cut from 5 billion Naira to 3.4 billion Naira.
“About seventy (70) new road projects
have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and
Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional
funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the
Ministry’s vote. Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of
the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been
cut by the National Assembly.
” Another area of concern is the
increase by the National Assembly of the provisions for Statutory Transfers by
an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira. Most of these increases are for recurrent
expenditure at a time we are trying to keep down the cost of governance.
“An example of this increase is
the budget of the National Assembly itself which has increased by 14.5 billion
Naira, from 125 billion Naira to 139.5 billion Naira without any discussion
with the Executive.
“Notwithstanding the above stated
observations, I have decided to sign the 2018 Budget in order not to further
slowdown the pace of recovery of our economy, which has doubtlessly been
affected by the delay in passing the budget.
“However, it is my intention to
seek to remedy some of the most critical of these issues through a
supplementary and/or amendment budget which I hope the National Assembly will
be able to expeditiously consider.
“I am pleased with the success
recorded in the implementation of the 2017 Budget. A total sum of 1.5 trillion
Naira has been released for the implementation of capital projects during the
2017 fiscal year. In response to this and other policy measures implemented, we
have observed significant improvement in the performance of the Nigerian
economy.
“To achieve the laudable
objectives of the 2018 Budget, we will work very hard to generate the revenues
required to finance our projects and programmes. The positive global oil market
outlook, as well as continuing improvement in non-oil revenues, make us
optimistic about our ability to finance the budget.
“However, being a deficit budget,
the Borrowing Plan will be forwarded to the National Assembly shortly. I crave
the indulgence of the National Assembly for a speedy consideration and approval
of the Plan.
“The 2018 Budget I have just
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.
“I thank the Ministers of Budget
and National Planning, the Budget Office of the Federation, and everyone who
worked tirelessly and sacrificed so much to bring us to this day. However, the
job is only partly done.
“I am sure you will remain
committed to advancing our Change Agenda, not only in the preparation of the
national budget but also in ensuring its effective implementation.
“I thank you and may God bless
Nigeria.”
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