FG votes N2tn for Lagos-Calabar, others

The National Assembly has passed the N6.2tn budget amendment bill for the third reading, as the Federal Government is to spend about N2tn on the Lagos-Calabar highway and other road projects.

The bill was passed after the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West), presented his committee’s report on the 2024 Appropriation (Amendment) Bill.

On July 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu transmitted to the Senate a bill for an Act to amend the Appropriation Act, 2024 to provide for the sum of N6.2tn with N3.2tn for capital expenditure and N3tn for recurrent expenditure.

The document showed that N700bn would be used for the country’s coastal road that would run from Lagos to Calabar, traversing Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states.

The Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri railway line would gulp N530bn, as the line would pass through Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno.

The appropriation would also take care of the Badagry to Tin Can Port, Lekki Port, Ijebu Ode, and Kajola.

Also, the African Trans-Sahara Highway (to traverse Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Abuja), is to take the sum of N200bn.

Another component in the bill also stated that the water, irrigation, and dam development project, among others, would take N349bn. The Livestock Development Programme was awarded N75bn.

During the presentation of the bill, Olamilekan said, “The bill was read the first and second time and referred to the Committee on Appropriations for further legislative action.

“The Senate may also recall that the 2024 Appropriation Bill was passed into law by the National Assembly in the sum of N28.7tn and was subsequently assented to by the President on January 1, 2024.”

He added that “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 because the committee was mandated to report back to the Senate on the bill within one week, it consulted widely with its leadership and other critical stakeholders.

Olamilekan said, “The committee met and deliberated with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and deliberated on the scope of the bill, as well as, its 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. I, therefore, present this harmonised report on the Amendment Bill, 2024 for consideration and passage of the Senate.”

The bill was thereafter passed for the third reading after a voice vote by the Senate President.

Other highlights of the amended budget, as presented by Olanilekan and adopted by the Senate include N1.742tn for statutory transfers and  N8.27tn for debt service.

Reps approve N35.06tn

The House of Representatives has passed the supplementary bill seeking to increase the 2024 Appropriation Act from N28.7tn to N35.06tn.

On July 17, 2024, the House passed the N6.2tn extra-budgetary proposal by President Tinubu. On Tuesday, the bill scaled the third reading with clauses 1 to 13 considered and approved at the Committee of Supply.

A breakdown of the proposed N35.06tn for the 2024 fiscal year showed that the sum of N1.74tn is earmarked for statutory transfers; N8.27tn for debt service; N11.2tn for recurrent expenditure while the sum of N13.77tn is slated as a contribution to the Development Fund for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2024.

Leading the debate on the general principle of the bill, the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi, who presented the harmonised joint Senate and House report on the budget, pleaded for the adoption of the recommendations of the Committee.

Addressing journalists shortly after the passage of the budget, Bichi said, “As you can see, we have passed the N6.2tn budget of Mr President, the budget of renewed hope.

“N3.2tn is for capital expenditure while about N3tn will go to the current. And as I said last time, the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway is a critical road infrastructure that Mr President wants to actualise.

“The Lagos-Calabar highway covers about nine states, which is about 700km of road projects. Also, the Sokoto-Badagry highway is critical, covering about seven states. It covers about 1,000km. We have another one from Ebonyi, all the way from Abuja, from the Trans-Saharan section. We need some funding to execute these important projects,” he said.

He also added that strategic rail projects passing through Abuja, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina up to Maradi in Niger Republic would be funded from the budget.

He pledged the readiness of the parliament to engage the various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to ensure the full implementation of the budget.

He said, “We engaged both the Minister of Budget and the implementation agencies – Minister of Transport, Minister of Works, and Minister of Water Resources. They promised that as long as we pass this budget, the implementation will be 100 per cent.

“We had an engagement with the Minister of Budget and National Planning and she confirmed that the funding is there and the projects will commence.”

On whether the sum of N3tn approved for the payment of the N70,000 minimum is enough, Bichi said, “Absolutely, we did our calculations. We got the data from the Accountant-General of the Federation’s office before we applied this figure.

“We know that the money is enough from now till December 31 to take care of the N70,000 minimum wage. Nigeria should be expecting dividends of democracy.”