A Presidency source has given an insight into why President Muhammadu Buhari was absent at Friday’s cabinet meeting that discussed the lingering 2016 Budget – the first by his administration since it took office on may 29, 2015.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told News Express: “Because the President was desirous of assenting to the budget as quickly as possible, to ease the tension in the polity, the moment the details were submitted on Thursday, it was directed that all ministers should look at the Appropriation for their respective ministries, make observations and meet on Friday morning to deliberate on their observations from where a decision will be taken whether or not what was passed will further the agenda of the government and consequently whether the President should give assent to it, or draw the attention of the National Assembly to areas of disagreement.

“Since the Vice President is the head of the Economic Team, he had to preside over the meeting while the Budget and Planning Minister moderated discussions. The President was not expected to be at the meeting; it was purely to look at the details of the budget as submitted by NASS and fast track the process of screening and assent. The President was to be briefed after.”

Meanwhile, President Buhari will leave Abuja tomorrow for a working visit to China “aimed at securing greater support from Beijing for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, especially in the power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing sectors.”

A statement issued this afternoon in Abuja by Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) Femi Adesina said: “President Buhari’s talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples’ Congress, Zhang Dejiang will also focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in line with the Federal Government’s agenda for the rapid diversification of the Nigerian economy, with emphasis on agriculture and solid minerals development.

“It is expected that in the course of the visit, several new agreements and memorandums of understanding to boost trade and economic relations between Nigeria and China will be concluded and signed.

“The agreements include a Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Boost Industrial Activities and Infrastructural Development in Nigeria.

Others are a Framework Agreement between the Federal Ministry of Communications and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation.

“In keeping with his administration’s prioritisation of economic diversification and industrialisation to boost employment, President Buhari and his delegation will tour the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to gain more useful insights and understanding of the policies that underpinned China's astronomical economic growth in recent years.

“The President, whose entourage will include some state governors as well as the Ministers of Agriculture, Water Resources, Transport, Defence, Power, Works & Housing, Industry, Trade & Investment, Federal Capital Territory, Science & Technology and Foreign Affairs, will also open a China-Nigeria Business/Investment Forum in Beijing and meet with members of the Nigerian Community in China before returning to Abuja at the weekend.”

•Photo shows President Buhari about to depart for a trip.

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