The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), said on Tuesday that he might seek virement and amendments to the 2020 budget by forwarding proposals to the National Assembly.
The President had signed the N10.59tn budget at a ceremony witnessed by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, at the State House, Abuja.
Buhari observed that the budget was N263.9bn higher than the N10.33tn proposal he laid before lawmakers on October 8.
He announced that having studied the additions, he might consider sending virement requests to the National Assembly soon for the ease of implementing the adjustments.
The retired major general said, “The 2020 budget passed by the National Assembly provides for aggregate expenditure of N10.59tn, an increase of N263.95bn over the executive’s proposal that was submitted in October 2019.
“We have examined the adjustments and may revert to the National Assembly with a request for a virement or other relevant amendments.”
Buhari also said being a deficit budget; he would have to forward the 2020-2022 Borrowing Plan to the legislature soon to address the issue of funding.
He said, “With today’s global oil market outlook and our strategic approach to revenue growth, we are optimistic that we will be able to finance the 2020 budget.
“However, being a deficit budget, an appropriate 2020 – 2022 Borrowing Plan will be forwarded to the National Assembly in due course.”
The President appeared elated while signing the budget, a marked departure from his acrimonious relationship with the leadership of the 8th National Assembly when Buhari and presiding officers of the legislature wore long faces at signing ceremonies.
He praised the lawmakers for the timely passage of the budget, recalling that they started and concluded work on the money bill within two months.
By this development, Buhari stated that the budget process had returned to the more predictable January-December cycle.
He said, “You will recall that I laid the 2020 Appropriation Bill before the Joint Session of the National Assembly on 8th October 2019 and forwarded the 2019 Finance Bill shortly thereafter.
To address implementation bottlenecks, Buhari said the Finance Bill pending before the legislature, when passed, would facilitate speeding implementation.
“We look forward to receiving this bill, shortly, for presidential assent. Once passed into law, the finance bill will support the funding and implementation of the 2020 budget.
“We shall sustain this tradition by ensuring that subsequent budgets are also accompanied by a finance bill.
“For these achievements, I must therefore congratulate and thank the distinguished Senate President, the Speaker and indeed, all members of the federal legislature for their commitment and support.”
Buhari, who promised to maintain the current cordial relationship between the two arms, also said he would ensure that the presentation of the estimates of the 2021 budget would be done in September 2020.
He said, “We have to sustain this harmonious working relationship. I expect that, going forward, this will be the norm.
Meanwhile, speaking with State House correspondents, Lawan and Gbajabiamila said they were confident that the 2020 budget would be better implemented than previous budgets.
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