…Passes Tinubu’s N6.2trn 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill
OSAS EMMANUEL
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Senate on Tuesday passed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s N6.2 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill.
This brings total money appropriated for the the 2024 budget to a sum of N35,055,536,770,218.
The passage was sequel to consideration of report of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on the 2024 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill presented by the Committee Chairman, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West).
Break down of the amendment shows that N3.2 trillion is for capital expenditure while N3 trillion is for recurrent expenditure.
Senator Adeola , while presenting the report said President Tinubu transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday July 17, 2024 a Bill for an Act to amend the Appropriation Act, 2024 to provide for the sum of N6.2trillion with N3.2 trillion for capital expenditure and the sum of N3,trillion for recurrent.
The Bill was read the first and second time and referred to the Committee on Appropriations for further legislative action.
Adeola said the 2024 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill seeks to among others, make available additional funds for “Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Projects”, to be undertaken across the country and to meet other recurrent expenditure requirements, such as the minimum wage increase necessary for effective governance of the Federation.
He said “Considering the fact that the Committee was mandated to report back to the Senate on the Bill within one week, the Senate Committee on Appropriations consulted widely with the Leadership of the Committee and other critical stakeholders. More significantly, it met and deliberated with the Hon. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and deliberated on the scope of the Bill, as well as, it’s source of funding the projects.
“Subsequently, the Committee processed the Bill together with its House counterpart, in line with relevant rules of legislative practice and procedures.
According to him, the Committee observed the need to provide the government equity component of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Projects and other critical projects to be undertaken across the country and other recurrent expenditure requirements, like the provision for the new minimum wage, among others, which necessitated the request for the Amendment of the 2024 Appropriation Act.
On the revenue projection, Adeola said the additional expenditure contained in the Amendment Bill will be financed by the one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits for the year 2023 as approved by the National Assembly.
The Senate accepted the recommendation of the committee and approve the amendment of A Bill for an Act to authorize the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N35,055,536,770,218.
Recall that the 2024 Appropriation Bill was passed into law by the National Assembly in the sum of ₩28,777,404,073,861 (Twenty- Eight Trillion, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Seven Billion, Four Hundred and Four Million, Seventy-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-One Naira, and was subsequently assented to by the President on 1st January, 2024.
