N/Assembly to get 2017 budget virement

The presidency is set to forward virement for the 2017 budget to the National Assembly soon, Daily Trust has learnt.

A source familiar with the matter told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday that the Executive was fine-tuning the virement document and could send it to the legislature for consideration this week.

Our correspondent gathered that both the Executive and the Legislature had reached an agreement for the virement before Acting President Yemi Osinbajo signed the 2017 budget of N7.44 trillion into law.

It was gathered that large chunk of the amount for the virement would come from the ministry of works, power and housing.

Daily Trust had last week exclusively reported that 1,177 new projects were introduced in the ministry’s budget, which had already set the minister, Babatunde Fashola, against the lawmakers.

Fashola had accused the lawmakers of “inserting frivolous projects” into the ministry’s budget.

But the lawmakers said Fashola was economical with the truth and did not tell Nigerians how ‘skewed’ his ministry’s proposal was.

The spokesmen of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger) and Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) had said the National Assembly only ensured balance in the spread, as Fashola concentrated projects in a particular region.

It was not clear if lawmakers would consider the virement proposal before they embark on annual recess, expected to begin on July 27.