By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr Clement Ikanade Agba, has urged the staff of the ministry to work as a team to ensure that next 2020 Budget is ready next month.
Addressing the staff shortly after assuming duty on Wednesday, the Minister disclosed that the ministry was given till September, 2019 to send the budget to the National Assembly for deliberation.
“Meetings are already scheduled. It is quite understandable reading the mood of Mr President. He had made it very clear to us. There is a whole lot of work to be done and he needs the budget to be before the National Assembly in September.
“That means for this ministry, in particular, we do have a lot of work to do. And I can say that we have a lot of capable hands to do the work.
“The only way we can succeed is for us to work together. I believe in the power of team. For me, the word ‘team’ means together everybody achieves much” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Ernest Umakhihe, while handing over the note from the former Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, listed the achievements of the ministry to include, stability and growth of the Nigerian economy when it went into recession.
“This was done through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP)—a short medium term plan spanning the period 2017-2020. The ERGP is now being concluded and arrangements are ongoing to put in place a successor plan aimed at consolidating the gains of the ERGP and to also act as a roadmap for the ‘Next Level’ agenda of the government” he stated.
The Permanent Secretary disclosed that the ministry would soon undertake the preparation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which would be submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and National Assembly (NASS) on August 28, 2019 as well as the 2020 Budget Estimates also to be submitted to FEC and NASS on September 25 and 26, 2019 respectively.
According to him, the bilateral discussions with ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on budget will commence on September 9, 2019.
The Permanent Secretary also disclosed that the Board/National Council on Development Planning (JPB/NCDP) meetings would hold at Asaba, Delta State, from September 25 to 27, 2019.
