Buhari Signs 2023 Budget of N21.8trn into Law

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The 2023 appropriation bill of N21.8 trillion was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

The budget was signed by the President at the Presidential Villa in the presence of the Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, and others.

At the event, Mr Buhari commended the parliament for the passage of the 2023 budget despite the hiccups they encountered while scrutinising the bill.

He later disclosed that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, would provide details of the budget and the supporting 2022 Finance Act to members of the public.

President Buhari explained that he signed the appropriation bill into law despite the National Assembly raising the initial size by N1.32 trillion from N20.5 trillion to enable its implementation without delay.

“We have examined the changes made by the National Assembly to the 2023 Executive Budget proposal, and the amended fiscal framework for 2023 as approved by the National Assembly shows additional revenues of N765.79 billion and an unfunded deficit of N553.46 billion.

“It is clear that the National Assembly and the executive need to capture some of the proposed additional revenue sources in the fiscal framework. This must be rectified.

“I have also noted that the National Assembly introduced new projects into the 2023 budget proposal for which it has appropriated N770.72 billion. The National Assembly also increased the provisions made by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by N58.55 billion,” he said.

Mr Buhari ordered Mrs Ahmed to work toward the early release of the 2023 capital votes to enable MDAs to commence the implementation of their capital projects in good time.