President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, in Abuja, issued warning to agencies of government generating revenue.
The Nigerian leader told them to work hard to meet their targets.
He spoke after signing the N13.588trillion 2021 Appropriation Bill and the 2020 Finance Bill into law.
“Relevant Agencies are to ensure the realization of our crude oil production and export targets. Heads of defaulting Agencies are hereby warned that they will be severely sanctioned. I also appeal to our fellow citizens and the business community, at large, to fulfill their tax obligations promptly,” he said.
Buhari expressed his delight that despite disruptions occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, 2020 Budget implementation passed previous thresholds.
The President disclosed that as at December 2020, his administration had released about N1.748trillion out of a total of the N1.962trillion voted for the implementation of critical capital projects, representing a performance of about 89.1 percent.
“The overall performance of the 2020 Budget currently stands at an impressive rate of 97.7 percent. This commendable outcome underscores the importance of our efforts, together with the Legislature, to return to the discipline of a January-to-December fiscal year.”
Buhari commended the National Assembly for completing “the important appropriation process in good time”.
The President added that the passage of the 2021 budget before the commencement of the 2021 fiscal year was confirmation of the resolve to maintain a predictable January-December fiscal year.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning is expected to provide further details on the 2020 budget performance in due course.
