FEC refines 2023 budget proposals ahead of presentation to NASS

Clearly, the federal government was content with an early transmission of the 2023 budget appropriations to the National Assembly this week on Friday.

Although the government still has a window of a few weeks to make the presentation, the budget proposal was scrutinized at Wednesday's Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The president's special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, floated the idea when speaking to State House correspondents after the week's meeting, but kept the details to heart real figures settled.

The Presidential Spokesperson quipped that today's FEC was a one-stop meeting.

He cleverly avoided disclosing whether the Council had approved the budget figures exactly as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, but noted that those who were required to fine-tune all aspects of it were invited to make all the necessary imputations and prepare it for the President's presentation, scheduled for Friday.

"Good afternoon, colleagues and friends. This was practically a single item for the Executive Council meeting during which the budget proposals for 2023 were presented and discussed in detail.

"This budget proposal will be presented to the National Assembly on Friday morning by the President. It will therefore not be appropriate to start discussing the content of what will be officially presented on Friday.

"So this is the information I have for us; that we won't have the traditional briefing of what happened in Council because this is a budget that will be presented on Friday morning. We would like to do the National Assembly the honor of receiving it first,” he said.

Asked when it would be appropriate for the executive to present the budget proposals to Nigerians and whether the FEC had given its approval for the document to be presented to the National Assembly, the presidential spokesperson said the finance minister , Budget and National Planning provide a breakdown after the submission is tabled in the Legislative Assembly.

“You know, usually after the budget has been presented, there is a breakdown by the Minister of Finance. So it will not be appropriate to start disclosing what is presented to the National Assembly on Friday,” said he said.

On whether it was approved by the Board, he said "what has been done is that it has been widely discussed and there have been inputs regardless of the contribution that must be reflected before Friday will be made and then it will be presented to the National Assembly.

"Let me tell you that you will have the revised budget framework 2023/2025. You will have an expenditure profile. You will have a budget proposal, you will have overall expenditure, overhead, staff costs, capital expenditure, etc.

“So all of those things have been discussed and where they needed to tweak some projections, that has been done. The final approved cop will be presented by the president on Friday,” he said.

When asked about the state of the nation's debt profile, he replied "all these things are in the budget, it won't be fair. My brief is to tell you that the budget was discussed at length, all details. But out of respect for the National Assembly, which will receive it on Friday, it is not prudent to start disseminating this information".

Meanwhile, Adesina explained the reason why the FEC did not resume participation of all members as it was before COVID-19, saying it was guided by the Presidential Committee on the pandemic.

"You have to follow the protocols, like the COVID-19 steering committee did and the last protocols they announced was that when you're in an open place, you're free to go without your mask, but when you are in an enclosed place, it is advisable to always use your mask.

"The Council Chamber is closed, there are, I think, 42 ​​ministers, by the time 42 ministers gather there, along with other Cabinet staff, it starts to choke. Then , it might not be advisable to have a full physical meeting yet, but I'm sure we'll get there,” he explained.

He also disclosed that the issue of 19 states without Resident Election Commissioners (RECs) had been referred to the President and was being considered.

Those physically attending the meeting include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha; Head of the Federation Civil Service, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan; and the President's Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

Also present are Ministers of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello and Education, Adamu Adamu.

The others are the Ministers of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyea...