The budget was sent to the President for his assent last
week. This means Nigeria will operate a one-year budget circle – from January
to December 2020 – for the first time in 11-years.
Announcing the signing of the 2020 budget, President Buhari
on his Twitter account stated that, “It is my pleasant duty, today, on my 77th
birthday, to sign the 2020 Appropriation Bill into law. I’m pleased that the
National Assembly has expeditiously passed this Bill. Our Federal Budget is now
restored to a January-December implementation cycle.”
It is my pleasant duty, today, on my 77th birthday, to sign
the 2020 Appropriation Bill into law. I’m pleased that the National Assembly
has expeditiously passed this Bill. Our Federal Budget is now restored to a
January-December implementation cycle.
There
had been reports that President Buhari would
sign the Budget today, two months after he presented the bill before a joint
session of the National Assembly. The 2020 budget was increased from N10.33
trillion as proposed by the executive to N10.6 trillion by the National
Assembly.
The last time the Senate passed a budget before January was
in 2008. But in recent years, the Senate has gradually reduced the time frame
for consideration and passage of the budget. The passage of the 2017 and 2018
budget took six months each, while the 2019 budget was passed five months after
President Buhari presented the appropriation bill in December 2018.
