National Assembly proposes July-Dec budget preparation calendar

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

The National Assembly has identified 15 key reform strategies, including the adoption of a budget calendar which will begin with the  submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework by the second week of July of every year.

The President is also expected to sign the Appropriation Bill into law by the third week of December.

A statement from the Office of the Senate President on Monday said the strategies, which also include the provision of laws on development  plans by the Federal Government, were aimed at easy and timely preparation of the budget as well as its efficient implementation.

The statement said the measures were contained in a report submitted  to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, by the Senator Ali Ndume-led technical committee on the reformation of the budget process in Nigeria.

The report, which is to be discussed at the Senate’s plenary, include the amendment of the relevant sections of the Constitution and extant laws, as well as the enactment of new laws to improve the country’s budgetary process and align it to international best practices.

Other key recommendations in the report, which was submitted last Thursday, according to the statement, include the proposed provision of a legal backing for national development plans and the enactment of organic budget law to fix a realistic budget calendar.

According to the report, the broad strategies aimed at improving the budget process “revolve around reforming laws and frameworks for budget formulation, enactment and implementation; aligning the budget process to international best practices; strengthening capacities and
institutions for budget formulation and implementation; and strengthening the revenue base for budget implementation.”