The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the 2017 budget proposal for transmission to the National Assembly. Minister of Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma told reporters after the FEC meeting on Wednesday that the approved document would soon be presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari after consultation with the leadership of the Assembly.
The budget has been approved by the Federal Executive Council. The details, of course, will be revealed when the President presents it to the National Assembly. With regard to the date, the President will be communicating with the National Assembly and, of course, it will be at the National Assembly discretion ultimately.
So, the President will write to them and it is after they confirm, then the president can come to address them, he said. Udo-Udoma defended the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which the Senate has criticised as a poor document, saying it was prepared after extensive consultation with stakeholders.
He said his ministry would continue to ensure regular briefing on the state of the 2016 budget implementation, saying that 80 per cent of the capital allocation of the budget had been released. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said the council had approved the construction of Federal Secretariat Complex in Ekiti State.
According to him, the council has also approved the furnishing of the Federal Secretariat in Gombe State. He said the Council also approved the Business case for the concession of some Small Hydro dams to achieve Incremental Power supply across the country, adding that the small hydro dams would be adequately utilized.