President Buhari to get minister's nod to sign 2016 budget

President Buhari to get
minister's nod to sign 2016
budget


– Presidential spokesperson confirms
reception of budget
– Minister’s advice is only step left for
Buhari to sign the 2016 budget
President Muhammadu Buhari will not sign
the 2016 budget sent to his office until he is
advised to do so by Senator Udoma Udo-
Udoma, the minister of Budget and National
Planning.
Earlier reports confirmed that the president
has received the clean copy of the budget
on Thursday, May 5, but needs to go through
again and get the consent of his minister
before finally approving the document.
According to The Punch, Garba Shehu, the
president’s spokesperson, confirmed that the
document had been received, stating
however, that the president would nit just
attest his signature without any scrutiny.
“The question now is that have those concerns
been corrected 100 per cent?
“We should not mix things up. The process is
that ministers, who raised the initial concerns,
should study the new document and ascertain
that the concerns have been addressed 100
per cent.




“It is based on their findings that the Minister
of Budget and National Planning will advise
the President. The decision on whether the
President should sign or not will be based on
the advice of the minister,” he said.
The Senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume, also
told The Punch the president might sign the
budget on Friday because the document
already left the National Assembly earlier on
Thursday, May 5.
“We have completed our work on the budget
at the National Assembly and it is already
with the executive. We hope the President
will sign it tomorrow (Friday) so that it
would become operational,” Ndume noted.
The senior special assistant to the president
on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita
Enang, also confirmed that the budget had
been sent to the president and that the
issues initially raised had been resolved.
With all that has been said, it may be quite
difficult for President Buhari not to attest
his signature to the budget, after returning it
to the National Assembly for the third
consecutive on Tuesday, May 3.
Meanwhile, President Buhari is expected to
be in Daura, Katsina state on Friday, after
which he will procees on a state visit.