Senate passes N98.5bn FCT supplementary budget

The Senate on Tuesday, June 11, passed the sum of N98.5billion as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2024. The passage of the Bill was a sequel to the consideration of the report of the Senate committee on FCT during plenary. The Senate had last week stepped down the Bill, saying the details of the budget needed to accompany it. The vice chairman of the committee, Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP-Enugu West) presented the report on behalf of the chairman of the Committee Senator Bomai Mohammed (APC-Yobe South) who was absent during the plenary. Details shortly…

Reps Throw Out N5bn Presidential Yacht From Supplementary Budget

*Increase Students’ Loan To N10bn The House of Representatives has yanked off the budgetary allocation of N5.09 billion for purchase of a presidential yacht in the N2.176trn supplementary budget submitted to the lawmakers. The House, instead, moved the proposed sum to students’ loan thereby increasing allocation for students’ loan to 10bn as against 5. 5bn earlier provided in the supplementary budget. The action of the lawmakers followed the public outcry that trailed the provision made a presidential yacht amidst the hardship Nigerians are facing following the removal of fuel subsidy and other policies by the current administration. Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi Abubakar (APC, Kano) made this known while addressing newsmen after the passage of the N2.176 trillion supplementary budget. He said the need became necessary following low budgetary allocation for students. He said the committee also increased budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Defence from 476bn to 546bn following security concerns. Bichi also disclosed that the minimum wage for workers was considered and approved for onward transmission to the executive while promising proper legislative oversight to ensure 100 percent implementation. In the supplementary budget sent to the National Assembly by the president, the federal government allocated N5.09 billion to purchase a presidential yacht. The proposed sum was under the capital expenditure of the Nigerian Navy’s budget. According to the breakdown, the Navy will require N62.8 billion for its operations, with recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure gulping N20.4 billion and N42.3 billion, respectively. But Bichi said the five billion naira for the presidential yacht has been yanked off from the budget. On the presidential yacht, Bichi said, “Actually, as far as we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan. Initially, the student loan was N5bn in the budget but we have increased it to N5bn so that our students can access that facility in order for them to go to school. We don’t have the yacht anymore in budget.

Tinubu Writes NASS, Seeks Approval For N2.1trn Supplementary Budget 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally written to the House of Representatives, requesting approval for a N2.1 trillion supplementary budget. This development comes shortly after the Federal Executive Council’s unanimous approval on Monday for the allocation of the said budget, aimed at addressing critical concerns such as labour wage adjustments, national security, infrastructure maintenance, and more. The supplementary budget also aligns with the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which President Tinubu has submitted to the House of Representatives. During the Federal Executive Council meeting, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, emphasized the urgency of addressing these issues.  Notable allocations within the supplementary budget include N210 billion for Wage Award for Civil Servants, N605 billion for National Security and Defence, N300 billion for the maintenance of vital infrastructure like the Eko bridge, N400 billion for cash transfers to vulnerable households, N200 billion for seed and agricultural inputs, and N18 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct off-season elections.