Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma, the minister of Budget and National Planning, is reportedly the only person stopping President Muhammadu Buhari from signing into law the 2016 budget.
According to The Punch, Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesperson, confirmed that the document had been received, stating however, that the president would not just attest his signature without any scrutiny from the Senator Udoma.
“The question now is that have those concerns been corrected 100 per cent?
“We should not mix things up. The process is that ministers, who raised the initial concerns, should study the new document and ascertain that the concerns have been addressed 100 per cent.
“It is based on their findings that the Minister of Budget and National Planning will advise the President. The decision on whether the President should sign or not will be based on the advice of the minister,” he said.
The Senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume, also told The Punch the president might sign the budget on Friday because the document already left the National Assembly earlier on Thursday, May 5.
“We have completed our work on the budget at the National Assembly and it is already with the executive. We hope the President will sign it tomorrow (Friday) so that it would become operational,” Ndume noted.