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President Muhammadu Buhari has called on journalists across the world to ensure that they continue to uphold the ethics of their profession and practice good journalism. This, he said, is because good journalism is critical to the development and growth of societies and is needed to combat the challenges posed by fake news. The President made the call at the 2018 World Congress of the International Press Institute (IPI), which had the theme ‘Why Good Journalism Matters’ in Abuja, the nation’s capital on Thursday. He said, “In a world where the borderline between hate speech and free speech has become blurred, good journalism matters. “In an environment where fake news dwarfs investigative journalism, good journalism matters. For survival in an increasingly competitive field, good journalism matters. Good journalism promotes good governance.” President Buhari, therefore, called on participants at the Congress “to give depth to the topic” in their discussions and conclusions. He pr...

The House of Representatives yesterday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law. In a statement by its spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas, it however, maintained that the decision to inject additional projects into the budget was in line with the powers conferred on it by the 1999 Constitution as amended. Specifically, it noted that the inclusion of zonal intervention projects in the budget was in line with the wishes and aspiration of Nigerians. Namdas also said there was nothing awkward with the N150 billion budgeted for the National Assembly on the basis that it had been underfunded over the years. “The budget is usually a proposal from the Executive to the National Assembly, which the latter is given the constitutional powers of appropriation to alter, make additions, costs or reduce as it may deem necessary. “The Legislature is not expected to be a rubber-stamp by simply approving the Executive proposals and returning the budget to Mr. P...

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions, Rafiu Ibrahim (APC, Kwara) has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that over 6,403 projects were introduced into the budget at the National Assembly. Reacting in a phone interview, Ibrahim said: “Why did he sign it? If he has so much reservations, he shouldn’t have signed it. He cannot continue to disparage the integrity of the National Assembly. “We will not agree with our leadership to continue to bend backward for the President. Now he is talking as if it was our doing which is very dishonest of the President. In fact, I’m very disappointed in the President who we so much hold in high esteem. “All the amendments done to the budget were in consonance with the executive. The adjustment was based on benchmark and the details are available.” On the president’s plans to send supplementary budget to National Assembly, he said, “ He has to bring it with all honesty by saying that he wants ...

The House of Representatives yesterday justified its decision to raise the budget estimates by N578 billion. It also reiterated its stance not be subservient to the Executive on national budget preparation and approvals. The House absolved itself of blame in the late passage of the budget. It blamed it all on the Executive. In its reaction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s complaints while signing the 2018 Appropriation Act, the House said it is within its constitutional powers to alter the document. The statement yesterday by its spokesman Abdulrazak Namdas, said it jacked up the 2018 budget because some of the projects designed by the executive did not meet the needs of the common man. The lawmakers said the additional costs and projects to the budget were done in good faith for the sole purpose of improving the lives of Nigerians. The statement reads: “The House of Representatives is appreciative of President Muhammadu Buhari in signing the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law and wis...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday signed Nigeria’s record N9.12 trillion 2018 budget into law. Buhari said he was concerned by some changes to the 2018 budget made by the National Assembly. “The logic behind the Constitutional direction that budgets should be proposed by the Executive is that it is the Executive that knows & defines its policies & projects,” said Buhari in a tweet. The National Assembly passed the appropriation bill last month. The N9.12 trillion budget is higher than the N8.6 trillion plan presented to the lawmakers by Buhari in November because both chambers of the National Assembly increased the assumed oil price to $51 per barrel, from $45. Meanwhile the National Assembly said it is not worried about concerns raised by President Muhammadu Buhari over the alterations made on the 2018 budget by the lawmakers. The Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; and the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, after joining Buhari...

Amid lamentations and outright displeasure, President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja signed the 2018 Appropriation Bill into law. “I am concerned about some of the changes that the National Assembly has made to the budget proposals that I presented,” he told the nation in a speech that evidenced bottled up anger, adding: “Notwithstanding the above stated observations, I have decided to sign the 2018 budget in order not to further slow down the pace of recovery of our economy, which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget.” The reaction of the National Assembly to the veiled presidential indictment was swift and concise Wednesday with the Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, who was at the signing ceremony, saying the legislature did its job in national interest, explaining that not being a rubber stamp of the executive, its estimates could not have returned to it without adjustments. The president had presented N8.6 trillion estimates wi...

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday signed the N9.12 trillion 2018 Appropriation Bill into law, and lamented that it would be difficult to implement because the budget figures have been tampered with by the National Assembly. The President accused the National Assembly of cutting N347 billion from 4,700 critical projects and injecting 403 unnecessary projects at the cost of N578 billion, stressing that the proposals introduced by the lawmakers were neither properly conceptualized, designed nor costed. President Buhari noted that the projects were supposed to be carried out by states and local government areas. The President, who did not hide his reservation on how the budget was handled by the National Assembly, said he was compelled to sign the budget in the interest of Nigerians and in order not to shut down the recovery of the economy which has been affected by the delay in passing the budget. However, the leadership of the National Assembly claimed that the power of appropriatio...

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed the country's budget of 9.12 trillion naira today on Wednesday The spending plan was approved by the two chambers of the National Assembly and was passed to the presidency on May 16, 2018. Here are important facts about the 2018 budget: The 2018 budget is 22.6% higher than the 2017 Budget. It was signed on the 171st day of the year, which makes it the longest budget in the history of Nigeria to be passed by legislative and signed into law by the President so far to get signed. The 2018 Budget N8.26 trillion proposal was presented by the president to the National Assembly on November 7, 2017. The national assembly delayed the signing of the budget for six months and as well increase the budget by N508 billion. The budget has capital expenditure (roads, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure) of N2.87 trillion. The national assembly cuts N347 billion in the allocations for 4,700 projects and introduced 6,403 projects of their ow...

Yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari finally signed the 2018 Appropriation Bill into Law. That this is coming mid-way into what is supposed to be a January – December budget cycle is certainly not surprising: from November 7, 2017 when the President submitted the budget estimates to the joint session of the National Assembly, what we saw on full display were the same old turf wars – of blame game and mutual recriminations, needles grandstanding and bad faith between the executive and the legislative branch all of which threatened to reduce the process to a farce. Is the war then over? It is doubtful. In the first place, the subtle disclaimer placed on the Appropriation Act, just signed, can hardly be lost on a careful observer of the executive-legislative relations. To the extent that the President left no one in doubt that he would not have signed given the level of distortions by the lawmakers save for the public anxiety and the possible implications of further delay on the overa...