The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, on Wednesday said there is no date yet in sight for President Muhammadu Buhari to assent the 2016 Budget.
According to him, talks on the grey areas in the budget are still in progress.
He spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
He said: “On the 2016 Budget, we are still talking.
“On the expectation that we will soon have a budget, the monitoring and evaluation mechanism are designed to make sure that the budget delivers what it promises. That mechanism was looked at by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and approved.”
To ensure that the 2017 budget is done on time, the minister disclosed that a timetable was approved for the 2017 budget by FEC.
The purpose, he said, was to get the 2017 Budget on time to the National Assembly and ensure its passage this year.
He also said that the Council noted the report of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group which in partnership with the National Planning Commission (NPC) organised an economic summit last year and made various recommendations.
On his part, the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu said that no negotiation has been reached yet with MTN on the fine imposed on the telecommunications firm.
He disclosed that one of the memos which also came before FEC was the one requiring approval of the final Acts and instruments amending the International Telecoms Radio Regulations.
