President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed to the National Planning Commission (NPC) to carry out reduction in recurrent expenditure and prioritisation of developmental projects in next year’s appropriation bill.
Buhari gave the order following a briefing on the framework for the 2016 Budget from the Commission’s Executive Secretary Dr. Bassey Akpanyung at the Presidential Villa on Monday.
According to a statement released by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President told Dr. Akpanyung and directors in the NPC that capital projects must now be given utmost priority before ordering them back to the drawing board to produce the framework for the 2016 Budget in line with his vision.
The President explained that no nation can achieve real development without adequate investment in capital and infrastructural projects. “In carrying out its role in surveillance of the economy, review and appraisal of policies, the commission should devise a plan for a realignment of the budget so that capital projects can be really prioritised,” Buhari told the commission.
Akpanyung had informed the President that Nigeria’s planning system was beset by many challenges, which included the non-alignment of national plans with the annual budget and inadequate capacity in the departments of Planning, Research and Statistics in the various government ministries.
By Olisemeka Obeche
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