2016 budget: Buhari orders cut in overheads

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the National Planning Commission (NPC) to review the framework for 2016 national budget.

This was with a view to reducing recurrent expenditure and subsequently prioritising developmental projects.

Buhari gave the order after a briefing from Bassey Akpanyung, executive secretary of the commission, at the presidential villa in Abuja on Monday.

He told officials of commission that capital projects must now be given the fullest possible priority, because Nigeria could not 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,” he directed.

Akpanyung had informed the president that Nigeria’s planning system was beset by many challenges.

These challenges, he said, 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.