The Federal Government has denied reports that the 2016 budget presented to the National Assembly by the President had been discreetly withdrawn for adjustment.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said the budget proposal was going through the normal procedure, adding that there was no plan to withdraw it for any reason.
“You know the budget is presented to the NASS and then there is what we call an interactive budget approval process and you know the agencies will still go and defend their budget at the National Assembly. So, ordinarily in budget processes, anywhere in the world, there can be amendments to the budgets arising from that interactive process, which is normal.
“But let me make it very clear. The budget is not being withdrawn or replaced. The budget has been presented and will go through normal process whereby MDAs defend their budgets. It is possible in the process of that, because as you know the legislature is not a rubber stamp, their job is to scrutinize the budget and to approve that budget. So there may be some changes that occur as a result of that interactive process, but that process is normal everywhere in the world where a budget is presented. So I think it is important to make that clarification,” she said.
The minister also dismissed the insinuation that the budget could be padded by the lawmakers insisting that such was impossible considering the financial position of the country.
