The Federal Government has extended the life cycle of the N21.8tn 2023 budget and the N2.17tn supplementary appropriation from June 30 to December 31, 2024. The Spokesman for the President, Bayo Onanuga, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the budget cycle was extended to December to ensure that the capital projects contained in the appropriations were not abandoned. During Thursday’s plenary, the Senate suspended its rules and gave an expeditious passage to the first, second and third reading of the budgets in barely one hour. However, it was not a smooth sail for the 2023 Appropriation Amendment Bill, 2024, and the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Amendment Bill, 2024 in the House of Representatives as the move was opposed by the opposition lawmakers, leading to a rowdy session, which was deftly managed by the leadership. Defending the elongation of the budget cycle, Onanuga explained, “It is because it (the 2023 supplementary budget) is running simultaneously with the 2023 budget. There are some elements of that budget that were not implemented. That is why they are moving it forward to be implemented. “They have already got the provisions meant for them. So, they are trying to make sure they implement them based on the provision of that budget. It means the 2023 and 2024 budget will run concurrently.’’ The parliament, which had adjourned plenary till June 10, cut short its Sallah recess to reconvene on Thursday to elongate the budget cycle for the third time. The PUNCH gathered that the emergency plenary was at the request of President Bola Tinubu. Last December, both chambers extended the implementation period for the capital component of the budget from December 31, 2023, to March 31, 2024, along with the 2023 supplementary budget passed in November 2023. Budget extension Following a request by the President, both the Senate and the House of Representatives again extended the implementation period for the budgetary appropriations from March 31 to June 30, 2024. With just a few days remaining until the June 30 deadline for the 2023 budgetary appropriations, the two chambers again resolved to extend the budget cycle. The Appropriation Bills were considered by the Senate Committee on Supply while the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, presented the lead debate on the extension of the budget cycle. Bamidele, in his debate, claimed that the extension was required to allow the Federal Government to complete ongoing projects captured in the budgets. “This Bill, therefore, intends to extend further the implementation period of the Acts to 31st December 2024, because of the strategic importance of some key projects nearing completion and to allow for continued implementation for the maximum benefit of the country.’’ Abandoned projects “Undoubtedly, this would go a long way to avoid the compounding problems of abandoned projects. Hence, the need for the enactment of this proposed legislation to extend the implementation,” he added. Given the critical importance of key projects nearing completion, the Senate leader argued it is expedient to approve the supplementary budget extension to avoid compounding the abandoned projects because some of the projects were not provided for in the 2024 budget. The Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, supported the extension of the appropriation bills, stressing that it was necessary to extend the budgets. Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) observed that the primary reason for the extension was to allow the Federal Government to complete ongoing capital projects. Orji Kalu (APC, Abia North) mentioned that numerous projects remained unfinished across the country. He urged his colleagues to disregard criticisms regarding the budget extension. Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) argued against the continuous extension of the budgets. Ningi advised the lawmakers to ensure that the Federal Government implemented the projects as specified in the approved budgets. But the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, assured that the upper chamber would oversight the implementation of the capital component. Akpabio said, “Implementation is the responsibility of the executive, while oversight is the responsibility of the legislative.” Following the contributions, Akpabio put the budget extension to a vote, and it was supported by the majority of the lawmakers. The Senate President subsequently approved the extension. Earlier, before the bills’ passage, the lawmakers held a closed-door session for two hours. In the N2.17tn 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Act, N1.01tn was allocated to recurrent expenditure, while N1.16tn was earmarked for capital expenditure. Major capital projects in the budget include N300bn set aside for the rehabilitation of Eko and Third Mainland Bridges, along with the development, repair, and maintenance of various roads across the country. The sum of N200bn was earmarked for the provision of seed, agricultural input, supplies, and agricultural implements and infrastructure
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