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The impact of the 2016 budget signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 6, 2016 is yet to be felt and the activities of militants blowing up oil installations in the Niger Delta region have been blamed for this.
Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels TV Sunday night, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said the crisis in the Niger Delta was responsible for the slow implementation of the budget.
His words:
“The intention is to implement that budget as much as possible but then the circumstances are making it difficult because projections are not being met because of what is happening in the Niger Delta and other parts of the economy.
“But as much as possible the government would still adhere to that project as much as revenue will permit and allow”
Adesina however explained that the government was engaging the militants in negotiations in order to find lasting solution to the crisis.
He said:
“Every option is on the table. There was never a time anything was ruled out. All the options were on the table. You will recall that when some South South leaders visited the President led by King Alfred Diete-Spiff, he also disclosed that he had encouraged the security agencies to dialogue with the militant and the leadership of that region.
“So there was never a time that anything was ruled out,since the insurgency began there had always been dialogue”.