President Muhammadu Buhari will not sign the
2016 budget bill passed by the National Assembly
last week unless lawmakers provide more details
of the legislation, a government official said on
Tuesday.

The move spells further delay of the record $30
billion budget aimed at reviving Africa’s biggest
economy, hit by a slump in oil prices. Buhari had
presented the bill in December before
withdrawing it due to an unrealistic oil price
assumption and flaws in the draft.
The National Assembly had earlier sent on
Tuesday the bill, which calls for record spending,
to Buhari’s office but it had contained only
highlights of the budget, no details, the official told
Reuters, asking not to be named.
“As a result, the president has been unable to sign
the bill because he does not know what is
contained in the details and what adjustments the
National Assembly must have made to the
proposal sent to them,” the official said.
Buhari will travel to Washington on Wednesday
returning on Sunday, his office said, which makes
it unlikely the bill will get signed this week.
The budget debated by a joint session of both
chambers had left open how it would be financed.
Officials previously suggested up to half of the
estimated deficit of 3 trillion naira would be
funded though the sale of Eurobonds or loans
from China and international agencies. But no
such deal has publicly emerged.
The new budget, which is based on an oil price of
$38 a barrel, aims to recharge the economy by
trebling capital spending compared with 2015’s
plan.
A deepening crisis slowed gross domestic product
growth to 2.8 percent in 2015, Nigeria’s weakest in
decades.
The overall budget is 6.06 trillion naira ($30.47
billion).
Oil revenues, which make up about 70 percent of
Nigeria’s income, have slumped, hammering the
currency, halting development projects and
leaving budget funding uncertain.
In January, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun
Nigeria said Nigeria planned to borrow up to $5
billion from multiple sources, including the
Eurobond market, but officials have not provided
an update since then.
Nigeria has in recent months held exploratory
talks with the World Bank and tried to secure
funding from the African Development Bank and
China’s export bank, but no deal is known to have
resulted.