Presidency has revealed why President Muhammadu Buhari will now sign the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law Wednesday at noon (12pm).
This is just as the Budget office has revealed that the signing will be followed by a breakdown of the 2018 budget on Thursday, by Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma and Zainab Ahmed.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made available to BusinessDay, in Abuja, revealed that the President will use opportunity of the cancelation of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to sign the budget
Adesina said the “Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting will not hold tomorrow, Wednesday, June 20, 2018” which means that the President can now use the opportunity to sign the budget
Adesina revealed further that the cancellation of the FEC meeting “ is due to the Eid-el-Fitr holidays last Friday and yesterday, which affected preparation of Council memoranda”
The statement confirms earlier report by the BusinessDay that the budget will now be signed on Wednesday laying to rest several speculations on when the President will eventually sign the budget passed 16th May, 2018.
The 2017 Budget was said to have expired since last week June 13th, one year after it was signed into law by the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
Financial experts had posited that Nigeria had risked total shutdown from this week should the President had refused to sign the budget tomorrow.
A statement by the Director General ( DG) Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, has also invited members of the public including the Civil Society Organizations, the organized private sector and other stakeholders to the traditional public presentation of the budget details and highlights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The highlights provided opportunities for members of the public to have first hand information on the detail of the budget.
