The House of Representatives has increased the 2024 budget presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by about N1. 2 trillion.
The Lawmakers who held a special session to pass the budget increased the estimate from N27.5 trillion presented by the President to about N28.777 trillion.
The report from the House Committee on Appropriation was laid before the House at plenary on Saturday by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi.
Breakdown of the N28.777 trillion approved budget showed that the sum of N1.743 trillion is for Statutory Transfers; N8.271 trillion is for Debt Service; N8.769 trillion is for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure while N9.995 trillion is for Capital Expenditure for the year ending 31st December, 2024.
The N9.179 trillion fiscal deficit for the year under review, is to be financed through Asset sales/privatisation – N298,486,421,740; Multilateral/Bilateral Project -Tied Loans – N1,051,914,486,314 and Debt Financing – N7,828,529,477,860.
For the total Debt Service of N8.271 trillion approved for the year 2024, the sum of N5.300 trillion is to be incurred through Domestic Debts – including Ways and Means; N2.748 trillion through Foreign Debts while the Sinking Fund for the retirement of maturing Promissory Notes stands at N223.662 billion.
Under the Statutory Transfer, National Judicial Council (NJC) got the highest allocation of N341.626 billion; followed by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with N338.925 billion; Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) gets N263.044 billion; North East Development Commission (NEDC) – N131.836 billion; Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHPF) – N131.522 billion; National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) – N131.522 billion; Public Complaint Commission (PPC) – N14.460 billion; and N5billion for National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), respectively.
From the total sum of N50.451 trillion approved for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure, Ministry of Defence got the highest allocation of N1.308 trillion, followed by Ministry of Police Affairs – N869.121 billion; Ministry of Education – N857.134 billion; Ministry of Health & Social Welfare – N667.577 billion; Ministry of Interior – N362.552 billion; Ministry of Youth – N201.467 billion; National Security Adviser (NSA) – N199.763 billion; Ministry of Foreign Affairs – N140.456 billion; Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security – N110.248 billion; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) – N100.248 billion and Presidency – N97.913 billion.
Capital budget which was pegged at N8. 7 trillion in the budget presented by the President to the Assembly was increased to N9.995 trillion, while recurrent budget was reduced from N9.92 trillion to N8.76 trillion.
Debt servicing got N8,270 trillion while statutory Transfers got N1,trillio742 trillion
Speaking before the passage of the budget, the Speaker of the House of Representatives said that the budgets will be taken to the people at the constituency levels to allow them also to make inputs.
He said “as representatives of the people, it is essential that we involve citizens in our key processes and decision-making. It is in line with this that the House organised a citizens’ town hall on the 2024 Appropriation Bill, where the public was given the opportunity to express views on how the budget can better address the specific needs of all Nigerians, especially those at the grassroots.
“The House remains committed to engaging citizens in its activities and ensuring the lawmaking process is open and inclusive. In the coming years, the budget will be taken to the people at the constituency levels to allow them also to make inputs”.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Abubakar Bichi, described the budget as brilliant.
He said that the slight increase was as a result of exchange rate which was pegged at seven hundred naira but was increased to eight hundred naira following market differences.
Olusola Akintonde/Punch news
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