The Senate, on Thursday, passed the N2.18 trillion 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill forwarded to it on Tuesday for consideration and approval by President Bola Tinubu.
However, before the Senate approved the money bill, it first adopted reports of the sittings of both Chambers.
The Supplementary Appropriation Bill was presented by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West).
President Tinubu in the letter he forwarded to the President of the Senate, which he read during Tuesday’s plenary, requested that the bill be given expeditious consideration and passage.
Accordingly, the apex legislative Assembly immediately passed it for a second reading and mandated its Committee on Appropriations to interface with heads of affected agencies for defence on the proposals made.
The Appropriations Committee also met with heads of related agencies on Wednesday and assured that reports of the supplementary budgetary proposals would be submitted to the Senate for final consideration and passage on Thursday.
Adeola told journalists on Wednesday that the reports on the supplementary budgetary proposals would be submitted to the Senate for final consideration and passage today.
He said: As mandated by the Senate on the strength of a request made by President Bola Tinubu, the Appropriations Committee has met with heads of the affected seven agencies supplementary budget proposals were provided for.
“Heads of each of the agencies, have defended proposals made for them by the President and convinced the committee on the need for the Senate and by extension, the National Assembly to approve the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget.
“The committee has carried out the assignment given in line with the urgency required based on which report for final consideration and passage of the bill, will be submitted to the Senate today (Thursday ),” he said.
Present at the interface with the Committee was the Minister of Housing, Ahmed Dangiwa, who defended the N100 billion budgeted for the Federal Ministry of Housing in the Supplementary budget.
He explained that the fund would be spent on the construction of housing estates across the country.
He explained that the federal government would construct 1,000 housing estates in each State of the federation, noting that all State governors had been contacted to provide 50 heaters of land for the construction of the estates.
He also said that another 2,000 housing estates would be built in the urban areas in each geo-political zone.
“We will use N50 billion to kickstart the construction of the housing estates in the federation. The remaining N50 billion will be used to develop slums in different parts of the country,” he said.
In his own presentation, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, defended N100 billion provided in the supplementary budget for the Federal Capital Territory out of which N22 billion was earmarked for completion of metro rail.
For the purpose of security and safety in FCT, Wike told the Committee members that all abandoned structures would be brought down so as not to serve as hideouts for criminals from neighbouring States.
“We will bring down all abandoned buildings within the FCT. We will also take over all those buildings because we have discovered that they are hideouts for criminals.
“When people commit crime, they will come and hide inside them. I have confidence that things would turn around”, he said.
Other Ministers who made presentations before the Committee, were the Minister of Works David Umahi, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of State for Defence, Hon Bello Matawalle as well as Service Chiefs.
When the document on the supplementary budget which includes, a draft of the budget and report of the Appropriations Committee, was presented on the floor of the Senate, it was not subjected to debate.
The Senate President thereafter subjected its approval to a voice vote and a majority of the Senators supported it and it was passed for the third reading, which was the final passage of the bill.
The Senate passed the supplementary budget with the following breakdown:
Statutory transfer – N18,000,000,000
Recurrent (Non-Debt) expenditure – N1,033,471,162,373
Development Fund for Capital Expenditure – N1,125,320,123,660
