President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday signed the 2023 Supplementary Budget of N2.17trn into law at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed the N2.17trn 2023 supplementary appropriation bill after a third reading last Thursday.
Before the passage of the bill, the Senate adopted the report of the harmonised sittings of both red and green chambers on the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill as submitted by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West).
The bill expeditiously scaled readings in both upper and lower chambers as lawmakers said it was for the benefit of the country.
Tinubu had written the National Assembly seeking the approval of the sum of N2,176,791,286,033 as the 2023 supplementary budget to address labour wage adjustments, security, and more.
The President had also sent the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) & Fiscal Strategy Paper to both chambers of the National Assembly,
Recently, the Senate passed N819bn making provision for a N500bn palliative package.
Tinubu had said the supplementary bill was necessary for additional palliative measures including wage awards. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by the President on Monday approved the 2023 supplementary budget of N2.1 trillion.
Some of the items in the supplementary budget include: the request for N4 billion for the renovation of the residential quarters for the president in Abuja; the renovation of the residential quarters of the vice-president (Abuja) at N2.5 billion.
Others are the students loan scheme that was increased to N10bn from N5bn earlier allocated for the purchase of a presidential yacht at N5 billion; vehicles for the office of first lady at N1.5 billion; SUVs for the Presidential Villa at N2.9 billion; and the replacement of operational vehicles for the presidency at N2.9 bill.
However, commenting on the budget after a federal executive council (FEC) meeting on October 30, 2023, Bagudu said the largest chunk of N2,176,791,286,033 (N605 billion) would go into security, to enhance the capacity of the nation’s defence and the security agencies.
“In negotiation with the Nigeria Labour Congress, the federal government agreed to pay N35,000 each to about 1.5 million employees of the federal government and that amounts from September, October, November and December 2023,” Bagudu had said.
He had also said N400 billion of the fund would be used for cash transfers to vulnerable and poor Nigerians between October and November.
In a statement signed by Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s special adviser on media and publicity, o Wednesday, Bagudu further explained that the newly approved expenditure for defence and security consists of about thirty percent.
He said thirty-five percent budget is dedicated to the provision of critical infrastructure to be allocated to the federal ministries of works, the federal capital territory (FCT), and housing and urban development.
The minister also said thirty-two percent of the supplementary budget was allocated to the new wage award for treasury-paid federal workers to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy, “in addition to cash transfers to vulnerable persons, and support to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), amongst other considerations”.