Buhari signs 2019 budget today

Barring any last-minute change in plans, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday (today) give his assent to the 2019 appropriation bill.

The assent of the President will officially make the bill become law and signal the commencement of the 2019 fiscal budget.

The development was confirmed by a top official in the Budget Office of the Federation.

The official, who pleaded not to be named as he was not officially permitted to speak on the matter, explained that details of the signed budget would be made available during a public presentation on Tuesday by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma.

Already, the minister had sent out invitations for the event.

The invitation read in part, “Dear Sir/Ma, On behalf of the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, CON, the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation hereby invites you to a public presentation of the approved FGN 2019 Budget scheduled as follows: Date: Tuesday, 28th May 2019; Time: 10:30 am; Venue: Main Auditorium, Federal Ministry of Finance, CBD Abuja.”

A presidency source, who also confirmed the signing, told one of Punch correspondents that the signing of the budget would be performed by the President “around 10 am at the villa.”

– Punch