‘Due to Jonathan’s delay’, Buhari writes Senate to extend FCT Appropriation Act

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday re­quested the Senate to amend and extend the implementation of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 2015 Statutory Appropria­tion Act to March 31, 2016.

In a letter addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki which was read on the floor of the Chamber, Buhari observed that the 2015 FCT Appropria­tion Act was assented to by the immediate past Presi­dent of the Federal Repub­lic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on May 28, 2015.

He pointed out that the late assent of Jonathan to the document allowed the FCTA only seven months in 2015 for implementation of the budget which he argued was not enough to fully im­plement the Act.

Buhari further explained that the delay in signing the appropriation bill into law, also affected its implemen-tation in respect of capital projects and other expendi­tures, resulting in numerous payments for critical and essential projects remaining outstanding.

The letter reads in part: “I am writing to seek the sen­ate’s approval to extend the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) 2015 Statutory Appropria­tion Act to 31 March, 2016.

“You may recall that the 2015 FCT Appropriation was assented to by my pre­decessor on the 28th of May, 2015. The delay affected its implementation in respect of capital projects and other expenditures. In this con­nection, numerous pay­ments for critical and essen­tial projects are outstanding.

“In view of the foregoing, the Senate is invited to note: the FCT 2015 statutory ap­propriation assented to on the 28th of May 2015 al­lowed the FCTA only seven months in 2015 for imple­mentation.

“To meet its obligations and as permissible by the constitution, the FCT 2015 appropriation needs to be extended to 31st March 2016 as that would enable the FCT to make payments for various critical and es-sential ongoing projects towards achieving a better performance in the imple­mentation of projects for the 2015 statutory appropria­tion.”

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