Buhari Signs N13.6trn 2021 Budget Into Law

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, in Abuja, signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N13,588,027,886,175 into law.
He appended his signature to the document at a ceremony inside the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The president’s action followed the earlier passing of the bill by the National Assembly on December 21 during an emergency session convened for the purpose of passing the budget.
The signing of the budget is also in line with the president’s promise to return the nation to the January to December budget circle.
The budget estimate was increased by the sum of N505, 607,317,942 from the estimate of N13, 082, 420, 568,233 presented to the joint session of the National Assembly by President Buhari on October 8, 2020.
The signed budget comprises total Capital Expenditure Supplementation of N1,060,751,051,650.
The budget includes Statutory Transfers of N496,528,471,273; recurrent Expenditure of N5,641,970,060,680 and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.00 per cent.
It also provides N3,324,380,000trillion for debt servicing while N5,641,970,060,680 is for Recurrent Expenditure; and N4,125,149,354,222 for Capital Expenditure.
The president also signed the 2020 Finance Bill into law.
Those who witnessed the signing of the budget include, the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, and a couple of principal officers of the National Assembly.
Others at the Council Chamber were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, some cabinet ministers as well as few top government officials, including the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, among others.
On Monday, the Presidency confirmed the receipt of the 2021 appropriation bill from the National Assembly.
Analysts say the January-December budget cycle would be sustained with this development.
The budget was passed after the two chambers considered and adopted the reports of their committees on the 2021 Appropriation Bill.