ABUJA— AHEAD of the passage of the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law, the Senate declared, yesterday, that the lifespan of 2016 budget would come to an end on May 5, 2017.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje, who disclosed this at a briefing, said the National Assembly might be forced to extend the validity period of the budget, if it was unable to pass the 2017 Appropriation Bill on or before the midnight of May 5, 2017.
Senator Goje, who warned heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to desist from mopping up funds at the end of this month, stressed that unlike in the past when the National Assembly amended the Appropriation Act or extended the validity period of the budget, it decided in 2016 to incorporate it into the document.
Senator Goje said: “Last year, when we were producing this 2016 Appropriation Bill, we realized that at the end of each year, there were usually requests for an extension of the budget from the executive. To avoid that, we decided to incorporate this new thing. “In the 2016 Appropriation Act which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law, clause 11 of it says that “in line with the provisions of Section 318 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, this bill will run for a period of 12 months, starting from the day it is assented into law.
“President Buhari signed this bill into law on May 6, 2016. This means this budget will run from that date up to the midnight of May 5, 2017. Unless, of course, if the Act is amended or altered as deemed fit by the National Assembly.
“As far as the law is concerned, there is no need for any extension or mop up by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. The mop they usually do will now be illegal. Except the National Assembly, in conjunction with the executive, amend this law, this is the position of the 2016 budget.”
“We do not have to extend the 2016 budget. If May comes and there is need to extend, then we can do otherwise. I believe before that date, the 2017 budget will be passed. For now, this is the position of the law.”
The Senate committee on Appropriation, for instance, is yet to get reports from all the standing committees on the 2017 budget.
It is unclear whether or not the promise by the Senate to pass the 2017 budget by the end of March, 2017 is still feasible.
Also read: 2016 Budget: FG releases N1trn capital to MDAs
Source: vanguard

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