Dr. Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate, announced on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2023 appropriation bill on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
The Senate President made the remark to journalists after meeting with the President behind closed doors at the presidential estate in Abuja.
He stated that the discussion covered the President’s recent supplementary loan request, the 2023 suitable law, and the legislature’s support for the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the general elections.
Lawan expressed regret that the budget is being signed a little later than the budget for 2022, which was signed on December 31, 2021.
“By the grace of God, we look forward to Mr. President signing the Appropriation Bill 2023 on Tuesday,” he stated.
“This is because we signed the documents yesterday, having lost some time because of some anomalous figures we had in the bill presented to the National Assembly.
“But thank God, the National Assembly in both houses have passed the Appropriation Bill 2023 on Wednesday, and I’m sure that Mr. President and his staff, on the executive side will work on what we have done. And I expect Mr. President will sign the Appropriation Bill 2023 first thing on Tuesday, the first official working day of the year.”
He said that the bill’s anomalies were to blame for the delay in signing, noting that it was the first time in four years that the Buhari-led government signed the national budget in the new year.
“We are extremely pleased that in the last four years, we have been able to assure the approval of the appropriation bills in record time before every Christmas, and Mr. President has always signed before the end of the year,” he said.
“This year, in particular, is due to the unusual, highly unwanted, and unfortunate situation that we had to postpone a little bit.
“You will recall that the National Assembly had to shorten its Christmas break in order to return on Wednesday to adopt the appropriation measure, which we might have passed a week earlier.” So it’s all the same? We didn’t overlook anything.”
He stated that since 2018, a fluid working relationship between the administration and the legislature has regularised the signature of appropriation legislation, resulting in a “reliable January to December budget for our country.”
Lawan explained that the federal government’s trend has filtered down to the states, with the majority of them now passing appropriation measures and assenting to them before the new year.
“So it has this multiple impact on the polity,” he explained. Concerning the economy. When the federal government passes and assents to an appropriation bill, and the states do the same, the economy begins to receive funding in January of the following year.”
Concerning the upcoming general elections, the Senate President stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, “lacks nothing,” and that the National Assembly will support it in conducting credible elections.
“We also discussed the general elections in 2023,” he added. The current National Assembly has always backed the executive in terms of ensuring that INEC has everything it needs to function properly and that elections are supported.
“So we have committed ourselves to ensure that we provide INEC whatever it requires for it to organize a very free, transparent and credible 2023 general elections. And we shall be present at all times between now and June 11, when our term as a legislator in the National Assembly will end.
“But before that, whatever INEC requires for 2023 to be a success, we will unquestionably and unequivocally provide such support,” he stated.
On the Buhari administration’s overall performance, he stated that while the Federal Government has done well in infrastructure development, some Nigerians “will never say anything good” about it.
“There are those who will never express anything positive about whatever it is. That is unfortunate. You can’t work with people like that. But, on the overall, the federal administration of Nigeria, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has accomplished a lot,” he remarked.
