– The president is expected to sign the 2018 appropriation bill on Tuesday, June 19
– The budget will be signed to avoid shutdown of the system, a source said
– According to the source, President Buhari is focused on not bringing the machinery of the government to a standstill
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Tuesday, June 19, sign the N9.1 trillion 2018 budget of the federal government.
A source within the government said there is need for the president to sign the budget to avoid a shutdown of the present government.
Noting that the president had frowned at an excess of N500 billion in the N8.6 trillion proposal submitted to the National Assembly last November, the source said President Buhari is focused on not bringing the machinery of the government to a standstill.
“That would have meant the first-ever shutdown of the federal government with the government not being able to pay for its services.
That is because the cycle of the 2017 budget ended last Wednesday, June 13 being the date in 2017 when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo signed the last budget in the absence of the president.
“Any money spent would have been outside the budget, and that would have meant a constitutional infraction, and you know the president does not need to compound his problems with the National Assembly,” the source said.
The Nigerian Senate had on Wednesday, May 16, passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill. The Senate assent of the bill followed the consideration and the adoption of the report by the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation. The Senate also increased the proposal of N8.612 trillion presented by President Buhari in December, 2017 to N9.120 trillion.
