President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 5, received from the National Assembly what is believed to be the ‘clean’ copy of the 2016 budget.
The President is expected to sign the budget after studying it and conferring with his Ministers, especially those who had issues with the initial version of the document that was altered by the lawmakers.
It is believed that the President will assent to the document based on the advice of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, was quoted by Punch Newspapers to have said: “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.”
What Now? Nigerians fervently hope the President and his ministers would deem the budget satisfactory enough to be signed – and this is a function of whether or not the federal lawmakers modified what was asked of them.
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