Weeks after horse-trading between the presidency and the National
Assembly over the controversial 2016 National Budget dubbed 'Budget of
Corruption', President Muhammadu Buhari, has finally signed the budget
into law.
The signing of the budget was done at 12:35pm, and witnessed by the
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki,
Speaker, House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, Chairman of the APC, Chief John
Oyegun, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Budget, Udo Udoma
and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Danjuma Goje and
his counterpart in the House of Reps, Abdulmumuni Jibrin.
Today’s event comes after the National Assembly submitted a clean
copy of the budget to the President. The President had withheld assent
after some alterations were noticed in the document.
The government announced yesterday it had mapped out 34 strategic
priority programmes and projects it intended to achieve with the 2016
budget.
These include a capital spend minimum of 30% annually, an
appropriate and predictable exchange regime by the end of 2016,
increased low interest lending rate of 9%, self-sufficiency in tomato
paste in 2016 and rice production by 2018.
It also plans to increase local production of maize, soya beans, poultry and livestock and to stop import.
Recall that the budget was laid before a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22, 2015.
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