Buhari Fixes Date To Present 2020 Budget To National Assembly

President Muhammadu Buhari will present the 2020 Appropriation Bill to a joint sitting of the National Assembly next week, the Presidency has said.

President Buhari’s administration had promised to return Nigeria to the January-December budget cycle.

YaahooJournalist reports that Nigeria currently runs a May-June budget cycle, a development caused by executive-legislature delays since the 8th National Assembly.

The presidency said the failure of the National Assembly to consider and pass the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategic Paper was part of the reason President Buhari was unable to keep to his promise of September Budget presentation.

Umar El-Yakub, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Reps), also stated that Buhari’s engagement at the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly also delayed the presentation of the 2020 Budget.

In an interview with Punch, Umar El-Yakub said that much as the presentation was delayed, it was for some reasons.

“Remember that the MTEF was presented to both chambers (Senate and House of Representatives) last week.

“You also know the President just returned from New York at the weekend where he attended the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Coincidentally, today is Independence Day (Tuesday), meaning that only yesterday (Monday) was there to present the budget if he was to present it.

“But, it will be the best bet if he (Buhari) presents the budget after the MTEF has been considered and passed by the National Assembly. So, yes, the budget is a bit late by a week or two, but for good reasons.

“Perhaps, we didn’t anticipate UNGA and the fact that MTEF had to be finalised and approved by the Federal Executive Council before it was transmitted to the National Assembly,” he said.

Asked when the 2020 budget would be presented to the National Assembly, the presidential aide replied, “Mr. President will be travelling to South Africa on Wednesday (today).

“By the time he comes back, the budget presentation will be done next week (2nd week of October), though I can’t confirm a specific date to you right now.”