By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday assented the country’s 2023 appropriation bill into law, but alleged that the original document sent to the Parliament was jerked up by the lawmakers.
Appending his signature at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at an event witnessed by leaders of both the Senate and House of Representatives, President Buhari said there was an inclusion of N770 billion in new projects in the 2023 budget proposal.
Additionally, he said Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, the Senate President and Speaker respectively raised the provisions made by ministries, departments, and agencies by N58.55 billion.
“I have also noted that the National Assembly introduced new projects into the 2023 budget proposal for which it has appropriated N770.72 billion, the National Assembly also increased the provisions made by ministries, departments, and agencies by N58.55 billion,” Buhari said.
He continued, “Nonetheless, considering the imminent transition process to another democratically elected government, I decided to sign the 2023 appropriation bill into law as passed by the National Assembly to enable its implementation to commence without delay.”
He directed Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, to engage with the legislature to revisit some of the changes made to the executive budget proposal.
