Confusion over non-passage of 2017 budget

• as 2016 budget expires

By Odunewu Segun

With the expiration of the 2016 budget without one for 2017, what next? There has been confusion and fear of government shut down.

Despite the non-passage of the budget before expiration of the 2016 last one, the development would not result in a government shutdown. This is because Section 82 of the constitution allows the president to authorise withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on services of the government until the coming into operation of the new budget.

Speaking on this, Eze Onyekpere, a fiscal policy expert and Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice said the government is empowered by law to “continue to spend” after expiration of the current budget, until a new budget is approved. The Director of Information at the Ministry of Finance, Salisu Danbatta, also expressed a similar view.

National Daily gathered that expectations at the business community was high last week amidst the legislative week commencing last Tuesday that the 2017 Appropriations Bill would be laid for third reading and passed in the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives, for transmission to the President.

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But the expectations were not met on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday – the three days National Assembly have plenary sessions in a week. The report on the 2017 budget expected from the joint committee on appropriations and finance chaired by Danjuma Goje and John Enoh respectively was not laid.

Although, the presentation of the report was listed as the first item on the Senate’s Order Paper for Thursday, the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, successfully moved that it be stepped down and taken “by the Grace of God” on Tuesday in the coming week. Reason: Mr. Goje (APC-Gombe) and Mr. Enoh (PDP-Cross River) and their members, were “currently” meeting with their counterparts in the House of Representatives on the last-minute harmonisation of the budget proposal.

A passed budget bill will be transmitted to the president who, reasonably will spend days to consider and review it, with his team, including the vice president, who heads the country’s economic team, before assenting to it. The lawmakers have now spent five months to review the budget proposal presented by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year.