The N98.5 billion 2024 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget has been approved by the Nigerian Senate for a second reading.
News About Nigeria reports that this came after APC-Kwara representative Lola Ashiru, the deputy leader of the Senate, presented the budget estimates during Thursday’s plenary in Abuja.
Due to a lack of information in the document that was sent to the members, the Senate decided to suspend its discussion of the budget on June 5.
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, APC-Kano, urged his colleagues to allow the passage of the bill to a second reading, following the presentation of the details of the budget.
Jibrin said the lawmakers had previously debated the budget before it was voted down.
Following Barau’s submission, the budget was consequently read for the second time.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, thereafter referred the budget to the Committee on FCT for further legislative input and to report back in two weeks.
Recall that the Senate had earlier, on June 5, stepped down the consideration of the N98.5 billion Federal Capital Territory Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2024.
The resolution stemmed from arguments by Senators that the supplementary budget lacked a profile, including budget performance, sources of revenue, and target areas where the money would be spent.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who presented the bill for consideration on Wednesday, said the FCT 2024 Statutory Supplementary Appropriation Bill seeks to authorise the issuance from the Federal Capital Territory Administration Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration Account.
He said the total sum of N98.5 billion was only “to accommodate additional inflow from internally generated revenue, resulting in a revised total FCT-IRS 2024 Statutory Revenue Appropriation to the sum of N348.720 billion.
