FEC approves 2018 Budget Draft

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting held on Thursday has approved a draft of 2018 budget to be sent to lawmakers.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma disclosed this to journalists in Abuja after the council meeting, saying the the approval seeks to bolster Nigeria’s economic growth after getting out of its first recession in 25 years.

“The federal executive council (cabinet) today approved a draft of the 2018 budget proposal.

“It is the prerogative of the president to give the details of the budget to the National Assembly, not me, so be patient until he presents the budget,” he said.

The Ministry of Budget and National Planning had last week published a document that said the budget would be a record 8.6 trillion naira ($27.3 billion) in 2018, up 15.5 percent from this year.

Udoma said the lawmakers would approve a date for Buhari to address them and formally submit the budget.

Read also: Buhari administration has elevated disobedience of court orders – SAN

The budget draft must be approved by the Senate before the final budget can be submitted and signed into law by Buhari.

The minister also said, “before now we used to submit in December but now the budget is ready in October, so there is a very big difference.”

Reuters reports that approval of the budget was delayed for months in 2016 and 2017 due to disagreements between lawmakers and the presidency, which froze the allocation of money for government projects and deepened the economic crisis in Africa’s biggest economy.