President Muhammadu Buhari has
ordered all cabinet members and heads of government agencies not to embark on
any foreign trip till the defence of the 2020 budget at the national assembly
is over.
Willie Bassey, director
information in the office of secretary to the government of the federation,
disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
He said the suspension of such
travels will enable the ministers and heads of agencies provide the information
the legislature needs to pass the budget.
“Sequel to the presentation of
the 2020 Appropriation Bill by Mr President to the National Assembly, President
Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate suspension of international travels
by all Cabinet Members and Heads of Government Agencies so as to enable
Honourable Ministers personally lead the process of Budget defence at the
National Assembly,” the statement read.
“The suspension of such travels
will enable Functionaries and Agencies of the Executive Arm to provide the
required cooperation with the Legislature in order to ensure timely passage of
the Appropriation Bill.
All foreign trips approved before
the directive were cancelled while the ministers affected were asked to
revalidate their approvals.
“Honourable Ministers who have
already secured approval to travel are by this directive, required to
revalidate such approvals with Mr. President after confirming the Schedule of
Appearances with the relevant Committees of the National Assembly,” the
statement read.
“Furthermore, all Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been directed to liaise with the relevant
committees of the National Assembly for their Schedules of Budget defence.”
Buhari had presented a N10.33
trillion budget to the lawmakers, the first spending plan of his second term.
He had expressed the wish that
the budget would be passed on time to enable its implementation between January
and December.
The National Assembly had listed
delay of budget defence as one of the reasons of not passing budgets as and
when due.
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