On December 31, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari signs the 2022 Budget at the State House in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the N17.126 trillion Appropriation Bill for 2022 into law.
On Friday, the President signed the budget handed to him by Senator Babajide Omoworare, his Senior Special Assistant (Senate) on National Assembly, in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He was, however, dissatisfied with some adjustments, as well as large additions and reductions to vital projects made by the National Assembly “without rationale.”
President Buhari cited some of the budget’s troubling changes, such as an increase in projected Federal Government independent revenue of N400 billion, a reduction in the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Maturing Bonds of N22 billion, and a reduction in the provision for Non-Regular Allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy of N15 billion and N5 billion, respectively; all without explanation.
He also voiced reservations about the Service Wide Vote’s inclusion of new provisions totaling N36.59 billion for National Assembly projects, which he claimed violated the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislative branch of government.
The President was also concerned about the changes to the original Executive proposal, which included new insertions, outright removals, reductions and/or increases in the amounts allocated to projects, as well as the elimination of provisions for 10,733 projects and the addition of 6,576 new projects to the budget.
Most of the projects introduced, he claims, are related to topics that are primarily the responsibility of state and municipal governments, and do not appear to have been adequately conceptualized, developed, or costed.
As soon as the parliamentarians return from recess, President Buhari said he would approach the National Assembly with a request for an amendment to ensure that vital ongoing projects critical to his government do not suffer as a result of reduced funding.
Buhari promised to start early preparation of the 2023 transition budget and quickly kickstart the process to ensure early submission of the 2023-2025 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper as well as the 2023 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly.
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, among others were present at the event.
While responding, the Senate President told State House correspondents that the lawmakers were right in their decisions.
The objections of the Executive, according to him, are not unusual and may not necessarily coincide with that of the legislature.
