The extension of the capital component of the 2023 Appropriation Act and the Supplementary Appropriation Act until 31 December as requested by President Bola Ahmed has split the House of Representatives in two as opposition lawmakers kick against the request.
The President hoped to extend the two budgets until 31 December to give more room to the full implementation of the law. A move the opposition stood against forcing the lawmakers into an executive session amid loud booing from members of the opposition parties seeminly indicating Speaker Abbas Tajudeen’s lack of control of the session.
President Tinubu inherited the N21.8 trillion budget from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari. But, the capital component of the budget suffered during the transition period, as many of the projects in the 2023 budget were not funded while the new administration settled in.
President Tinubu also inherited the N819 billion 2022 Supplementary Budget from the last administration. In July 2023, the president sent an amendment to the National Assembly to amend the N819 billion budget.
The amendment included a N70 billion package for the National Assembly and N500 billion for palliatives and other capital expenditures to cushion the effect of the recent fuel subsidy removal policy.
In October 2023, the president sent a N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget to the National Assembly for approval. According to the president, the majority of the items in the budget were for tackling insecurity.
However, some indiscrepancies have been widely reporting including the budget for a N5 billion presidential yacht, and such allocations to the State House like N28 billion for luxury cars for the president and the first lady and the renovation of the president’s residence, among other allocations for the State House.
