Buhari signs 2023 Appropriation Bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2023 Appropriation Bill into law two days into the new year.

The signing ceremony, conducted early Tuesday at the State House Council chambers in Abuja, was witnessed by the leadership of the National Assembly led by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives Speaker.

Alongside the N21.83 trillion 2023 Budget, Buhari also signed the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill into law.

The 2023 Appropriation Bill, tagged ‘Budget of Fiscal Sustainability and Transisition’, is President Buhari’s administration’s last before leaving office later in May.

The National Assembly passed the budget into law last Wednesday after increasing the proposals sent in by the executive by a sum of N1.33 trillion.

In his speech during the ceremony, President Buhari called on the National Assembly to reconsider its position on his proposal to securitize the Federal Government’s outstanding Ways and Means of balance at the Central Bank of Nigeria. He directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to engage with the legislature and revisit some of the changes made to the executive budget proposal.

The Secretary to the Government of the  Federation, Boss Mustapha, President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Minister of state, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, were some other top officials at the ceremony.