President instructs Osinbajo to sign 2017 budget

President Muhammadu Buhari has informed Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to sign the 2017 budget bill into law.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the President's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Monday, June 12, 2017.

He said the directive to Osinbajo had been delivered in a signed letter by the president.

The letter, dated June 10, 2017, hails the 2017 appropriation bill as a representation of "the unity at the highest level of government".

It read, "Following the receipt of a full brief on the 2017 appropriation bill as passed by the national assembly, and to buttress the unity at the highest level of government, President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated that it is in the interest of the nation’s economy for the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to sign the appropriation bill into law."

The letter also claims that the executive would promptly "submit next year’s budget proposals by October 2017 and the National Assembly will conclude the Appropriation process by December 2017, so that the country can return to a normal fiscal period from next year onwards."

The record 7.44 trillion naira budget was submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2016, and passed by parliament on May 11, 2017.

The president has been away from the country on medical leave in London since May 7, 2017, with Osinbajo acting in his absence.