President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill of N17.126 trillion into law.
Signing the budget presented to him by his Senior Special Assistant (Senate) on National Assembly, Senator Babajide Omoworare, at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the president however, expressed displeasure with some changes as well as major additions and reductions made by the National Assembly in critical projects, which he said was without justification.
According to reports, President Buhari highlighted some of the worrisome changes in the budget to include an increase in projected Federal Government independent revenue by N400 billion, reduction in the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Maturing Bonds by N22 billion, and reduction of the provisions for the Non-Regular Allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion respectively.
He also expressed his reservations on the inclusion of new provisions for National Assembly’s projects in the Service Wide Vote, which he said negated the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the Legislative arm of government.
The President was also concerned about the changes in the amounts allocated to projects, noting that most of the projects inserted relate to matters that are the responsibilities of state and local governments.
He however, said he would revert to the National Assembly with a request for an amendment as soon as the lawmakers return from their recess.
Present at the signing of the budget were, the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha; and Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, amongst others.
Responding to inquiries from State House correspondents, the Senate President, Ahmad noted that reservations of the Executive, was not unusual and may not necessarily coincide with that of the legislature.
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