Fresh CONTROVERSY As Presidency Denies Receiving 2016 Budget Document

The Presidency has said that it has not received, not just the details but also the documents of 2016 Appropriation Bill from the National Assembly. Speaking at the Corporate Headquarters of the Leadership Newspapers in Abuja on Thursday, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated that, “It is not true that the president has refused to assent to the budget. The fact remains that it (budget) is not even before him. “The practice really is that when the budget is approved like that, there is what we call headline figure that is approved, then, it will take a few days for the National Assembly to throw up the details.” It will be recalled that a government official under the condition of anonymity, had on Tuesday confirmed that President Muhammdu Buhari received the Budget, though without details. “The President has just received the transmission of the Appropriation Bill (2016 Budget) from the National Assembly and is very anxious to sign it into law, but the National Assembly only sent in the highlights without the details of the budget”, the source had said. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, before now said that he would not sign the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law until he was sure that what had been returned to him was the same with what his administration submitted to the National Assembly. He said he would do a ministry-to-ministry review before he appends his signature on the Budget. Lai Mohammed further stated that despite controversies surrounding the 2016 Budget, the President and the National Assembly nurture no rift. He said: “On the passage of the budget, I want to clear the misconception. There is absolutely no rift between the executive arm of government and legislative arm of government”.

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