Buhari may refuse to sign budget into law as he objects to inflated expenditure by senators

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari might not assent to the 2018 budget recently passed by the National Assembly because legislators inflated the original proposals by N501bn bringing the total amount to N9.12trn ($25.3bn).

On May 16, Nigeria's senate eventually passed the 2017 budget some five months into the year following the adoption of a report by the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriations. However, the minister of budget and national planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma has hinted that President Buhari might not assent to it because of the N501bn ($1.4bn) legislators added to the bill.

According to Senator Udoma, the National Assembly would have to tell Nigerians if they have discovered another revenue stream unknown to the federal government to cover the addition. He added that raising the additional sum of N501bn proposed by the legislature might not be feasible.

Senator Udoma said: “When we see the details, we will be in a better position to know how they came about it. We will see if they have discovered another revenue stream, which we were not aware of, or just relying on increased crude oil prices.”

In the final draft of the budget, the senate increased the appropriation bill to N9.21trn from the N8.612trn proposed by President Buhari and the crude oil benchmark price was also increased to $50.5 a barrel from $45 a barrel. Before the bill becomes law, however, is has to be signed by President Buhari.