Despite 2016 appropriate law becoming operational in the second quarter of the year, the federal government said it was targeting 100 per cent budget implementation for the year.
“Our aim will always be 100 per cent implementation,” the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, told State House correspondents Friday.
“We know we started late and we may not achieve it. But 100 per cent achievement is our aim. The budget is a law, we will try to implement it as quickly as we can.’’
Although the minister said details of the approved budget would be given later, he however said what was assented to by the president was slightly lower than what he presented to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015.
He said his ministry would set up a budget monitoring committee to ensure effective implementation of the law.
To ensure the 2017 budget did not suffer similar delay, the minister said the executive planned to submit the draft bill in October this year, to enable passage before the end of the year.
He said the ministry already sent a memo to the Executive Council of the Federation on the matter, securing approval was for a timetable for the early presentation of the 2017 budget.
The minister said the administration was determined to get the budget ready by December because the dry season remained the best time to commence budget implementation, particularly for road construction.
“Our intention, going forward, is to get us back to where we can get a full January to December budget implementation cycle. We are working with a time table to achieve this,’’ he said.
Mr. Udoma said going forward, there would be extensive consultation with the National Assembly and non-governmental organisations prior to the presentation of the next appropriation bill to speed up the approval process.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that FEC had already approved a budget monitoring and evaluation framework submitted by the ministry .
The framework, Mrs. Ahmed said, would guide the implementation of the budget, while the ministry has developed a specific implementation guideline for the implementation of the 2016 budget.
She said the guideline would be disseminated to all ministries, departments and agencies and would be monitored vigorously and reported upon to FEC on a quarterly basis.
“The implementation plan has some checks the ministry would follow as best as possible,” Mrs. Ahmed said. (NAN)
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