In supplementary budget, Buhari earmarks N413bn for settling fuel subsidy claims

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a supplementary budget of N465bn to the senate for approval.

In a letter read on the floor of the upper legislative chamber by Senate President Bukola Saraki, Buhari hinged his request for a supplementary budget on the shortage of funds required for carrying out important projects.

A partial breakdown of the budget shows N39bn is for operation lafiya Dole, which is the anti-insurgency campaign in the northeast; N2bn for feeding of students of unity schools and N413bn for settlement of subsidy claims, the non-settling of which are responsible for the return of filling-station queues across the country

According to the letter, Nigeria will borrow about N2.1tr to finance the budget and service debts.

The president explained that the increase of the loan from N882bn (as contained in the 2015 budget) to N2.1trn was because of the further fall in the global price of crude oil.

He said that the 2015 budget was pegged at $53 oil benchmark, but that the price had since plummeted further.