BREAKING: FG seeks approval for N2tn 2023 supplementary budget
The Federal Government has said it would be considering the approval for the appropriation of over N2 trillion as supplementary budget for the year 2023.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, made the announcement after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja on Monday.
Bagudu stated that of the aforementioned total sum for the proposed supplementary budget, N605 billion would be used for the national defence and security budget.
He said security matters in the country are among the pressing matters to be funded by the supplementary budget.
Speaking further, the minister stated that the additional funding for defence and security will be used to maintain and expedite the security gains, as these are funds that the security agencies require before the year ends.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the N21.83 trillion 2023 Appropriations Bill into law on January 3, 2023, marking Nigeria’s highest budget ever. The budget is predicated on revenue of N10.49 trillion.
The budget for 2023 includes N2.98 trillion, or 13.4 per cent for the security and defence sectors combined.
WesternPost had reported how the current administration of President Bola Tinubu assured that his administration would be providing a supplementary budget ahead of his first budget proposal slated to be presented in November.
Speaking on the details for the supplementary budget, Badugu said,” The council considered a request for supplementary appropriation which is a second for 2023 and guide graciously approve the sum of N2,176,791,286,033 as supplementary budget and this supplementary budget is to fund urgent issues including N605 billion for national defense and security.
“This is to sustain the gains made in security and to accelerate and these are funds that are needed by the security agencies before the year runs out.
“Equally as sum of N300bn was provided to repair bridges including Eko and Third Mainland bridges as well as construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of many roads nationwide before the return of the rainy season.”
In order to assist the development of production, Bagudu also revealed that N200 billion was specified for the provision of seed, agricultural input, supplies, and agricultural implements as well as infrastructure.
He continued by saying that N210 billion would be used to settle wage awards.
According to him, the FG has agreed to pay N210 billion to the Nigeria Labour Congress as part of their negotiations. Specifically, the government agreed to pay N35,000 to each of the approximately 1.5 million federal employees in September, October, November, and December of 2023.
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He also revealed that N400 billion was approved for conditional cash transfers for the FG’s World Bank-assisted National Social Investment Programmes for the poorest people.
“Equally the sum of N200bn was provisioned for seed, agricultural input, supplies and agricultural implements and infrastructure in order to support expansion of production.
“Equally the sum of N210bn is provided for the payment of wage Awards. 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.
“And that amounts to about N210bn which has been approved and also N400bn as cash transfer payments. You may recall that the federal government secured $800m loan from the World Bank to pay cash transfers of N25,000 to 15 million households. The $800 million is for two months, October and November.
“The President graciously approved that an additional month should be funded by the federal government and that is what this N100bn is for. Equally, N100bn has been provided for the Federal Capital Territory in order to support them in urgent and immediate capital expenditure works that can enhance the infrastructure in the city.
“Equally N18bn was provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission to support them in the conduct in the Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo elections.
Yes, some N5.5bn naira was provided for the funding of the takeover of the student loans board as well as N8bn for the take-off grant of new ministries.
“Equally, as sum of N200bn was provided as capital supplementation to deal with urgent requests that have been made to mr. president from various parts of the country,”the minister added.