After several months of waiting nigerians can now breathe a sigh of relief
President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2016 controversial budget into law. The budget signing which took place at a ceremony held inside the executive office of the President at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja had in attendance, the VP Yemi Osibajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara as well as some ministers and aides of the president. Presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina confirmed the budget signing The budget signing ends months of bickering between the executive branch and the legislative arm of the Nigerian government. Also, notable is the inclusion of the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail project that was initially removed by members of the “Appropriation Committee” at the National Assembly.speaking at the signing it gives me great pleasure today to sign the first full-year budget of
this administration into law. I thank the leadership of the National
Assembly, in particular, the Senate President and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and indeed all members of the National
Assembly for their cooperation in making this a reality.The budget is intended to signpost a renewal of our commitment to
restoring the budget as a serious article of faith with the Nigerian
people. This Administration is committed to ensuring that henceforth
the annual appropriation bill is presented to the National Assembly in
time for the passage of the Act before the beginning of the fiscal year.Through the 2016 budget, aptly titled "Budget of Change’’, the
government seeks to fulfill its own side of the social contract. The
Budget I have signed into law provides for aggregate expenditures of
N6.06trn. Further details of the approved budget, as well as our
Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget, will be provided
by the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning.I shall be speaking in more details about the Budget, its
implementation and the over-all national economic and social
policies of the Government in my address on May 29th, God willing. In designing the 2016 budget, we made a deliberate choice to
pursue an expansionary fiscal policy despite the huge decline in
government revenues from crude oil exports. This is why we decided
to enlarge the budget deficit at this time, to be financed principally
through foreign and domestic borrowings. All borrowings will however
be applied towards growth-enhancing capital expenditures.The signing of the budget today will trigger concerted efforts to
reflate the Nigerian economy, a key element of which is an immediate
injection of N350bn into the economy by way of capital projects. To
illustrate our renewed commitment to infrastructural development, the
2016 budget allocates over N200bn to road construction as against a
paltry N18bn allocated for same purpose in the 2015 budget.. Despite the current difficulties we will work extra-hard to achieve
our revenue projections. Our revenue generating agencies are coming
under better management and are being re-oriented. The
implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is expected to
contribute significantly to improving transparency over government
revenue.Our determined fight against corruption is resulting in
improvements in the quality of public expenditure. The work of the
Efficiency Unit, as well as other public financial management
initiatives, are also contributing in this regard. The continuing efforts
to reduce recurrent expenditures should hopefully free up more funds
for capital expenditure in 2017 and beyond.
As I said in my New Year message, living in State House does not
in any way alienate me from your daily struggles. I read the
newspapers and listen to the TV and radio news. I hear your cries. I
share your pains.
We are experiencing probably the toughest economic times in the
history of our Nation. I want to commend the sacrifice, resilience and
toughness of all Nigerians young and old who have despite the
hardships continued to have hope and confidence of a great future for
Nigerians. But permit me to say that this government is also like none
other. We are absolutely committed to changing the structure of the
Nigerian economy once and for all.We are working night and day to diversify the economy so that we
never again have to rely on one commodity to survive as a country.
So that we can produce the food we eat, make our own textiles,
produce most of the things we use. We intend to create the
environment for our young peoples to be able to innovate and create
jobs through technology.
I cannot promise you that this will be an easy journey, but in the
interest of so much and so many we must tread this difficult path. I
can assure you that this government you have freely elected will work
with honesty and dedication, day and night to ensure that our country
prospers and that the prosperity benefits all Nigerians. God bless
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Comments
Post a Comment