Gists: Pres. Buhari To Return 2016 Budget To Lawmakers As Some Essential Projects Outrightly Removed Or Funds Slashed

It appears that President Muhammadu Buhari will not be signing the 2016 Budget into law anytime soon. According to Vanguard, a source close to the presidency have revealed that some important infrastructural projects contained in the documents were either removed or slashed.

This was discovered in the emergency Federal executive Council (FEC) meeting to look into the fiscal document held on Friday  and presided over by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

The source said,

At the meeting, it was noticed that some very key aspects of the budget, which have to do with government’s core infrastructural focus, were removed. One of the projects is the subject of the President’s trip to China – the Lagos/Calabar coastal railway project  –  for which a counterpart funding of N60bn was  provided,  but which was completely removed by the National Assembly. The executive  is working on  two major rail arteries, among other rail projects,  to service the northern and eastern parts of the country  – the  Lagos/Kano line and the Calabar/Lagos line. While the Lagos-Kano provision was left untouched, the Calabar/ Lagos  line was removed. The projects are to be funded  jointly by governments of China and Nigeria. It is one of the main reasons  for the President’s scheduled trip to China. Also, the amount proposed for the completion of the Idu/Kaduna rail project which has reached an advanced stage, was reduced by N8.7bn, a development which will make it difficult for the project to be completed.

It was also observed that certain provisions made in the areas of agriculture and water resources to further the Federal Government’s diversification project were either removed or reduced while the funds were moved to provisions of rural health facilities  and boreholes, for which provisions have been made elsewhere. The President is desirous of signing the Bill into law so that implementation of the provisions could begin in earnest for the benefit of the people. That is why the moment he received the document on Thursday, a meeting was convened for Friday to immediately start work on it.

The source also said that allocations for the provision of essential drugs to fuel major health campaigns like polio and AIDS were removed and transferred to the purchase of ambulances, which the health ministry did not ask for.