Budget delay: Nigerians slam president Buhari

A cross-section of Nigerians on Friday flayed President Muhammadu Buhari over the delay in signing the 2016 budget.

They said it was embarrassing that the President could still be delaying the signing of the budget even after the first quarter of the year was over.

According to them, the delay signifies the President’s inefficiency and lack of preparation for serious governance.

A chieftain of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; the Registrar of the Chartered Institute of Finance and Control, Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Eohoi; the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Mr. Eze Onyekwere and the spokesperson for the Ijaw National Congress, Mr. Victor Borubo, expressed concern that the delay could have negative impacts on the economy.

The President had on Thursday in the United States ruled out the possibility of early signing of the 2016 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly last week.

He had said that before he would sign the budget, he would do a ministry-by-ministry review of the document to ensure that what was returned to him was the same with what his administration submitted to the National Assembly for passage.

But the eminent Nigerians said the President’s action could worsen the already decay infrastructure in the country.

Adebanjo said the delay meant that the All Progressives Congress-led government was clueless and was not sure of what to do with governance.

He said, “I have said it before that the APC has no programme. All the party wanted was that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan should go. But since the APC has assumed power, what has it done? It is not in my interest for Buhari to fail, but I want the country to move forward.”

Eohoi said since many investment decisions were tied to the budget, any delay in signing the document might affect investments inflows.

He said, “It is obvious that we are going to have a delay in the implementation of the 2016 budget.

“A lot of plans are dependent on capital releases and if capital budget does not start early, it will affect businesses because most people look at the budget to make informed decisions and those are the effects it will have.”