Senate Passes 2024 Appropriation Bill, Increases Budget By N1.2trillion

Senate Passes 2024 Appropriation Bill, Increases Budget By N1.2trillion

The 2024 Appropriation Bill has been passed by the Senate, resulting in an increase in the budget from N27.5 trillion to N28.7 trillion.

This means that the upper legislative chamber added approximately N1.2 trillion to the proposed budget.

The bill was approved after the Senate Committee on Appropriation presented their report during the plenary session on Saturday.

Senator Solomon Adeola, while presenting the report, mentioned that the committee utilized the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Paper (MTEF/FSP) approved by the National Assembly in formulating the budget.

The committee decided to adopt a 77.96 dollar per barrel oil benchmark, 1.78 million barrels per day (mbpd) production level, and an 800 naira exchange rate to the dollar, instead of the 750 dollar exchange rate proposed by the executive.

Key highlights of the bill include a total aggregate expenditure of N28.7 trillion, N1.7 trillion assigned to statutory transfers, N8.7 trillion for recurrent expenditure, and N9.9 trillion allocated to capital expenditure.

Senator Adeola emphasized that the committee worked closely with the executive in processing the bill.

Through a collaborative appropriation process, the executive submitted requests for additional funding for certain expenditures that were not initially included in the bill presented by the President.

However, Senator Adeola also pointed out that the committee noted the late submission of the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly.