THE 2018 budget has taken one of the longest periods to be approved in Nigerian history, reveals data from BudgIT, a Nigerian civic startup that releases and analyses public data.
Using an infographic illustration, the startup stated on Saturday, that the budget has spent a total of 206 days between the moment it was presented before the legislature and now ― by far the longest since 2008.
“2018 FG Budget is on the LONGEST budget approval phase,” BudgIT tweeted on Saturday. “Today, makes it 206 days since the Budget was presented. Current #2017budget expires next Thursday. The Budget is currently with @NGRPresident.”
A similar breakdown by Business Day in May established that the budget has also suffered the longest delay since 1999. While the shortest to be assented was the 2001 budget which took only 43 days to become law, the longest was the 2005 budget that gulped a total of 183 days.
President Muhammadu Buhari had presented the budget before a joint session of the National Assembly on November 7, and its passage had been postponed twice by the Senate before it was finally passed into law on May 16.
Meanwhile, Buhari assented to the ‘Not Too Young to Run Bill’ this week after it was passed by the National Assembly as well as 25 out of 36 state houses of assembly.
2018 FG Budget is on the LONGEST budget approval phase. Today, makes it 206 days since the Budget was presented. Current #2017budget expires next Thursday. The Budget is currently with @NGRPresident.
How long does it take to have a budget? #Budget2018 #AskQuestions pic.twitter.com/EX7mysVvBK
— BudgIT Nigeria (@BudgITng) June 2, 2018
'Kunle works with The ICIR as an investigative reporter and fact-checker. You can shoot him an email via aadebajo@icirnigeria.org or, if you're feeling particularly generous, follow him on Twitter @KunleBajo.