Udoma: FG will ensure 100 percent budget implementation

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, on Friday said that the administration will aim for 100 percent implementation of the 2016 budget in spite of the late signing of the budget. 

He gave the assurance while briefing State House correspondents shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Appropriation Bill in Abuja. 

The minister added that the budget was anchored on 38 dollars per barrel of oil benchmark, wth a projection based on 2.2 million barrels of crude per day production.

“Our aim will always be 100 per cent implementation. We know that because we started late we may not achieve it but 100 per cent achievement is our aim.

“We start with that aim because the budget is a law and we try to implement it as quickly as we can,’’ he said.

Udoma said the budget signed by the president was slightly lower than what he presented to the National Assembly.

Udoma expressed hope that the 2017 budget would be passed early as the executive arm of government planned to submit the bill in October to enable passage before the end of the year.

According to him, the ministry has sent a memo for a timetable for the presentation of the 2017 budget.

“The ministry presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and got approval for a time table for the 2017 budget.

“So, as we are finishing with this budget, we are starting on 2017 and our intention is that the budget should reach the National Assembly early in October to give them enough time to pass the budget before the end of the year.

“As you know, the most important time, particularly for road construction is the dry season and if you can get the budget out in December you can now start early to implement.

“So, our intention, going forward, is to get us back to a situation where we can get a full January to December implementation for the budget and we are working with a time table to achieve this,’’ he added.