Ag. President Osinbajo Receives 2017 Budget

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has received the details of the 2017 appropriation bill recently passed by the National Assembly.

The National Assembly passed a N7.441 trillion budget last week.

The document was handed over to Mr. Osinbajo by the presidential aide in charge of Senate, Ita Enang.

The handover was done behind closed doors.

Mr. Osinbajo had said on Wednesday that he would sign the budget when is satisfied with its contents.

Speaking after submitting the budget, Mr. Enang said:

“The budget as passed by the National Assembly has just been transmitted to the Acting President. I just delivered it.

“Let me use this opportunity to clarify an issue. The Acting President has the power to assent to the budget and he will assent to it when the processes are completed.

“The Acting President has the power to assent to the budget. In February, he assented to seven or eight bills. Those that he didn’t agree with, he wrote the Senate and House of Representatives that he had withheld his assent from them.

“He has the power of the president to assent to it. But the assent to the Appropriation Bill will be after the completion of the standard operation process. The bill has 30 days within which it will be assented to but the process can be completed within two or three days.

“So, it is not possible to say it will be assented to in so, so and so day or in two or three days. It’s upon the completipn of the process that it will be assented to by the president and the president here now is the acting president.”