N’assembly passes bill seeking to raise 2024 budget by N6.2trn

The senate and house of representatives have passed a bill seeking to increase the 2024 budget by N6.2 trillion. 

The bill passed third reading at the house of representatives after Abubakar Bichi, chair of the committee on appropriations, moved a motion for consideration of the report at the “committee on supply”.

The bill was introduced on July 17 following President Bola Tinubu’s request.

This increases the 2024 budget to N35 trillion from an initial N28.7 trillion budget Tinubu signed into law on January 1.

In December, the national assembly passed the 2024 appropriation bill, increasing its size from the N27.5 trillion proposed by Tinubu to N28.7 trillion.

Out of the N6.2 trillion, N3.2 trillion is for infrastructure projects and N3 trillion is proposed for recurrent expenditure.

Defending the president’s request before the house of representatives committee on appropriations on Monday, Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning, said the N3 trillion is intended to cover the new national minimum wage.

Bagudu said the proposed N3.2 trillion “renewed hope infrastructural fund” is “intended to provide equity contributions or counterpart contributions of the federal government projects designated as priority projects, as well as critical projects that needed more appropriation so that they would not suffer neglect”.

The minister said the N3.2 trillion proposed for infrastructure projects will cover several road and rail projects, including the one linking Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, traversing Rivers, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and terminating in Borno state.

The house also passed the 2023 Finance Act to impose a one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange (FX) gains.

A windfall tax is a higher tax imposed by the government on sectors or businesses that have benefitted from favourable market conditions.

The upper legislative chamber passed the bill after Solomon Olamilekan, chair of the senate committee on appropriation, presented a report.

Reporting by Dyepkazah Shibayan and Samuel Akpan