By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will preside over an emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting tagged Extraordinary FEC on Saturday.
The meeting may not be unconnected with the next week’s presentation of the 2020 budget estimate to the National Assembly,
A top government functionary dropped the hint on Wednesday after the weekly FEC presided by President Buhari before he left for South Africa to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa on the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in the country.
It will be recalled that the last time an extra-ordinary FEC held outside the normal Wednesday was in January this year, where President Buhari launched the new enhanced security international e-passport with 10-year validity.
In December last year, a special FEC session was convened on a Friday for the consideration and approval of this year’s budget proposal.
The budget presentation to the National Assembly was meant to have taken place in the third week of September but for President Buhari’s participation in the 74th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in New York.
The federal government plans to return to the January–December budget calendar. As a fallout of signing of the 2017 budget into law by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while acting as the president, the Executive and the Legislature had agreed to return the Federal Government to a January–December budget calendar, starting from the 2018 budget.
Nigeria currently runs a May-June budget cycle, a development caused by executive-legislature delays since the 8th National Assembly.
The delays have caused “distortions” in implementation and the inability to meet budget targets.
– Vanguard
