President Muhammadu Buhari has given Acting President Yemi Osinbajo the go ahead to sign the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law.
The directive was given following the receipt of a full brief on the 2017 budget as passed by the National Assembly.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the president said it was in the interest of the nation’s economy for Osinbajo to sign the budget.
The statement added that in a letter dated June 10, 2017, which the president personally signed and addressed to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, he expressed pleasure that the Executive would submit 2018 budget in October 2017 to enable the Assembly conclude work on it in December 2017.
The statement reads: “Following the receipt of a full brief on the 2017 Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly, and to buttress the unity at the highest level of government, President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated that it is in the interest of the nation’s economy for the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to sign the Appropriation Bill into law.
“In a letter dated June 10, 2017, which he personally signed and addressed to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the President also said he was “pleased by the joint resolution that the Executive would submit next year’s budget proposals by October 2017 and the National Assembly will conclude the Appropriation process by December 2017, so that the country can return to a normal fiscal period from next year onwards.”
