By Fola James
Exactly 10 days after the National Assembly passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, signed it to law at a brief ceremony in Aso Rock, Presidential Villa, Abuja, witnessed by Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Others at the Council Chamber were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, some cabinet ministers as well as other top government officials, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said.
On December 21, the National Assembly passed an estimate of N13,588,027,886,175 which was later sent to President Buhari for assent. The president has, with his assent fulfilled his promise to return the nation to the January to December Budget circle, despite the fact that the National assembly increased the estimate by N505, 607,317,942 from N13, 082, 420, 568,233 presented to the joint sitting of National Assembly by President Buhari on Oct. 8, 2020.
The budget comprises total Capital Supplementation of N1,060,751,051,650. Statutory Transfer stands at N496,528,471,273; recurrent Expenditure of N5,641,970,060,680 and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.00 Per cent.
It also provides N3,324,380,000 trillion for debt servicing while N5,641,970,060,680 is for Recurrent Expenditure; and N4,125,149,354,222 for Capital Expenditure.
Meanwhile, President Buhari has also signed the 2020 Finance Bill into law, NAN said.
