In a swift legislative move, the House of Representatives has amended the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Act, allowing for an extension in the implementation period of capital projects.
The parliament amended the act to extend the implementation of capital components from March 30 to June 30.
The majority leader, Usman Kumu (APC-Gombe), presenting the bill, emphasized the need for the amendment, citing a request from President Bola Tinubu. Kumu stated that the extension was in the best interest of the country and urged all lawmakers to support the bill for the sake of good governance.
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After passing the first and second readings, the Committee of Supply deliberated on the bill and subsequently passed it for a third reading. President Tinubu had previously implored the National Assembly to extend the implementation of capital projects from March 31 to June 30, as detailed in a letter addressed to Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
In the letter, President Tinubu noted the urgency of expediting action on the amendment to ensure the completion of ongoing projects.
This move comes amidst calls for the review of the 2024 budget, prompted by allegations of padding by lawmakers, leading to a significant discrepancy of N3 trillion.
In response to the controversies surrounding the 2024 budget, Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, advocated for a thorough review of the budget by both the executive and legislative arms of government. He emphasized the need to allocate resources to critical areas such as security, poverty alleviation, agriculture, and power supply.
In a series of tweets on his verified handle, Obi urged for an immediate review of the budget to enable urgent reallocation of resources. He stressed the importance of appropriating the nation’s resources to address pressing challenges, particularly in light of the current socioeconomic climate.
“I wish to respectfully appeal for a total review of the entire budget,” he stated.
“The executive and legislative arms should initiate an immediate review of the budget as it is still in the early days of implementation to enable them do urgent virement of resources to critical areas.
“The nation’s resources should adequately be appropriated to critical areas like security, fighting poverty and solving the challenges of hunger and food insecurity, and power supply, especially considering the difficult times that we are in.”
These developments come amidst allegations made by Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central Senatorial district, who asserted the existence of another budget different from what was passed on the floor of the National Assembly.
The senator said, “For example, it was said that there was a budget of N28 trillion but what was passed was N25 trillion. So there is N3 trillion on top.”
“The new things we have discovered in the budget were not known to us. We haven’t seen them in the budget that was debated and considered on the floor of the National Assembly.”
Critics said the unfolding events underscore the need for transparency, accountability, and effective governance in Nigeria’s fiscal affairs.