The president signed the N9.120 trillion bill at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, and other top government officials present......
After the
signing of the bill, the president said the 2018 Budget will help his
government to consolidate the achievements of previous budgets and
deliver on Nigeria's Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.
He
expressed his happiness with the implementation of the 2017 budget,
which saw the N1.5 trillion implementation of capital projects during
the 2017 fiscal year, and said the government will work hard to recreate
the same achievement and generate the revenues required to finance
projects and programmes that'll significantly improve the economy.
The president further noted, with dismay, the cuts made by the National Assembly
to the bill he originally presented. He said the legislature made cuts
amounting to N347 billion in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted
to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own
amounting to N578 billion.
The president said he
only signed the bill because he didn't want to further slow down the
pace of recovery of Nigeria's economy, and further disclosed that he'll
send "a supplementary and/or amendment budget" to the national assembly
to rectify the critical issues he raised.
Read his full statement below:
"I
would like to thank the leadership of the National Assembly,
particularly the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, as well as all the Distinguished Senators and
Honourable Members, for passing the 2018 Appropriation Bill, after seven
months.
"When I submitted the 2018
Budget proposals to the National Assembly on 7th November 2017, I had
hoped that the usual legislative review process would be quick, so as to
move Nigeria towards a predictable January-December financial year. The
importance of this predictability cannot be overemphasized.
"While
the Federal Government’s budget represents less than 10% of aggregate
yearly expenditures in the economy, it has a very significant
accelerator effect on the financial plans of other tiers of government,
and even more importantly, the private sector, which mostly operates on a
January-December financial year.
"Notwithstanding
the delay this year, I am determined to continue to work with the
National Assembly towards improving the budgeting process and restoring
our country to the January-December fiscal cycle.
"I
note, with pleasure, that the National Assembly is working on the
enactment of an Organic Budget Law, so as to improve the efficiency of
the nation’s budgetary process.
"As I
mentioned during the presentation of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, we
intend to use the 2018 Budget to consolidate the achievements of
previous budgets and deliver on Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth
Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.
"It is in this
regard that I am concerned about some of the changes that the National
Assembly has made to the budget proposals that I presented. The logic
behind the Constitutional direction that budgets should be proposed by
the Executive is that, it is the Executive that knows and defines its
policies and projects.
"Unfortunately,
that has not been given much regard in what has been sent to me. The
National Assembly made cuts amounting to 347 billion Naira in the
allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and
introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to 578 billion Naira.
"Many
of the projects cut are critical and may be difficult, if not
impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation. Some of the new
projects inserted by the National Assembly have not been properly
conceptualized, designed and costed and will therefore be difficult to
execute.
"Furthermore, many of these new
projects introduced by the National Assembly have been added to the
budgets of most MDAs with no consideration for institutional capacity to
execute them or the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be
required.
"As it is, some of these
projects relate to matters that are the responsibility of the States and
Local Governments, and for which the Federal Government should
therefore not be unduly burdened.
"Such examples of projects from which cuts were made are as follows:
"a.
The provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure
projects such as Counter-part funding for the Mambilla Power Plant,
Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo
Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut
by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.
"b.
Similarly, provisions for some ongoing critical infrastructure projects
in the FCT, Abuja especially major arterial roads and the mass transit
rail project, were cut by a total of 7.5 billion Naira.
"c.
The provision for Rehabilitation and Additional Security Measures for
the United Nations Building by the FCT, Abuja was cut by 3.9 billion
Naira from 4 billion Naira to 100 million Naira; this will make it
impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill its
commitment to the United Nations on this project.
"d.
The provisions for various Strategic Interventions in the health sector
such as the upgrade of some tertiary health institutions, transport and
storage of vaccines through the cold chain supply system, provision of
anti-retroviral drugs for persons on treatment, establishment of
chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis consumables were cut by
an aggregate amount of 7.45 billion Naira.
"e.
The provision for security infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools
across the country were cut by 3 billion Naira at a time when securing
our students against acts of terrorism ought to be a major concern of
government.
"f. The provision for the Federal Government’s National Housing Programme was cut by 8.7 billion Naira.
"g.
At a time when we are working with Labour to address
compensation-related issues, a total of 5 billion Naira was cut from the
provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage
Adjustment.
"h. The provisions for Export
Expansion Grant (EEG) and Special Economic Zones/Industrial Parks,
which are key industrialization initiatives of this Administration, were
cut by a total of 14.5 billion Naira.
"i.
The provision for Construction of the Terminal Building at Enugu
Airport was cut from 2 billion Naira to 500 million Naira which will
further delay the completion of this critical project.
"j.
The Take-off Grant for the Maritime University in Delta State, a key
strategic initiative of the Federal Government, was cut from 5 billion
Naira to 3.4 billion Naira.
"k. About
seventy (70) new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the
Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National
Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward
review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote. Regrettably,
however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the
amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the
National Assembly.
"Another area of
concern is the increase by the National Assembly of the provisions for
Statutory Transfers by an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira. Most of
these increases are for recurrent expenditure at a time we are trying to
keep down the cost of governance.
"An
example of this increase is the budget of the National Assembly itself
which has increased by 14.5 billion Naira, from 125 billion Naira to
139.5 billion Naira without any discussion with the Executive.
"Notwithstanding
the above stated observations, I have decided to sign the 2018 Budget
in order not to further slowdown the pace of recovery of our economy,
which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget.
"However,
it is my intention to seek to remedy some of the most critical of these
issues through a supplementary and/or amendment budget which I hope the
National Assembly will be able to expeditiously consider.
"I
am pleased with the success recorded in the implementation of the 2017
Budget. A total sum of 1.5 trillion Naira has been released for the
implementation of capital projects during the 2017 fiscal year. In
response to this and other policy measures implemented, we have observed
significant improvement in the performance of the Nigerian economy.
"To
achieve the laudable objectives of the 2018 Budget, we will work very
hard to generate the revenues required to finance our projects and
programmes. The positive global oil market outlook, as well as
continuing improvement in non-oil revenues, make us optimistic about our
ability to finance the budget.
"However,
being a deficit budget, the Borrowing Plan will be forwarded to the
National Assembly shortly. I crave the indulgence of the National
Assembly for a speedy consideration and approval of the Plan.
"The
2018 Budget I have just signed into law provides for aggregate
expenditures of 9.12 trillion Naira, which is 22.6% higher than the 2017
Appropriation. Further details of the approved budget will be provided
by the Minister of Budget and National Planning.
"I
thank the Ministers of Budget and National Planning, the Budget Office
of the Federation, and everyone who worked tirelessly and sacrificed so
much to bring us to this day. However, the job is only partly done.
"I
am sure you will remain committed to advancing our Change Agenda, not
only in the preparation of the national budget, but also in ensuring its
effective implementation.
"I thank you and may God bless Nigeria."
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