The Minister of Information and Culture on Wednesday said
the National Assembly has yet to transmit the 2017 Appropriation Bill passed
into law last week to the Presidency.
He, however, said the Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Udo Udoma, was in possession of an “advanced copy” which ministers
would use to check if there are discrepancies between what they sent to the
National Assembly and what was returned.
The minister spoke with State House correspondents after the
weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the Acting
President, Yemi Osinbajo.
“It has not yet been transmitted but at least the Minister
of Budget and National Planning has received an advanced copy of what was
passed and that is what we need to look at and compare to what we sent. It has
not been transmitted officially to the Presidency,” the minister said.
He said all ministers would be required to look at the
document against what they sent to the federal lawmakers and report back to
Udoma for harmonisation.
“In respect of the budget, it was only this morning that the
Minister of Budget and National Planning informed the council that the budget
has been passed.
“He has not sent to us individually, copies of the passed
budget. We now need to look at it against what we sent and if there is any
discrepancies we will report back to the Minister of Budget and National
Planning on harmonisation.
“The Ministry of Budget and National Planning will make the
implementation of the 2016 budget public. They have told us that about N1.2tn
has been released for capital,” he added.
When asked who will sign the budget between the Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo and President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently in
London, United Kingdom for medical consultation, the minister simply said,
“when it is transmitted to the Presidency, that decision will be taken.”
He also assured Nigerians that the two ministers recently
confirmed by the National Assembly -Stephen Ocheni (Kogi) and Suleiman Hassan
(Gombe)-would be inaugurated in due course.
He was not specific on when the inauguration will take
place.
On Ebola virus, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole,
said the Federal Government had put in place a standby team of 10 health care
workers that can be deployed wherever they are needed.
“We already have a standby team comprising 10 frontline
health care workers that would be moving to any location they are needed. It
is only then that we will require more money, but now, we don’t need additional
money,” the minister said.
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