President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will brief the Senate on the 2016 budget, this was disclosed in a letter sent to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, December 16. This led to the extension of proceedings beyond Thursday the 17th of December 2015 which was earlier agreed for Thursday, December 17 2015, to resume January 2016.
A reliable source told Naij.com that the recess has been halted to grant Buhari more time to present his late coming 2016 budget. Naij.com recalls that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) was submitted barely three weeks to the end of 2015 financial year which is violating provisions of Fiscal Responsibility Act provisions.
The budget is usually preceeded by the MTEF and FSP. On Tuesday, December 15 2015, the lawmakers went into a closed door session that lasted for about 45 minutes, to deliberate on issues relating to the budget.
Saraki said: “The senate in a closed door session discussed issues relating to presentation of the 2016 Appropriation bill.” Meanwhile, the presidency on Friday, December 4, 2015 said that President Muhammadu Buhari has not breached any law by not submitting Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to National Assembly for consideration .
The MTEF document according to law was supposed to have been submitted for approval by August 2015 four months to the end of the financial year requirement stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Naij.com recalls that the senate approved the harmonised version of the 2015 – 2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) on Thursday Mar 12, 2015.