Senate gives the green light to the 2024 Appropriation Bill, boosting the budget by N1.2 trillion

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 increase of about N1.2 trillion was approved by the Senate Committee on Appropriation, and the bill was passed following their report.

Senator Solomon Adeola, while presenting the report, mentioned that the committee utilized the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Paper approved by the National Assembly in preparing the budget.

The committee also made adjustments to certain parameters, such as adopting a 77.96 dollar per barrel oil benchmark, 1.78mbpd, and an 800 dollar exchange rate to the naira, as opposed to the 750 dollars proposed by the executive.

The bill includes a total aggregate expenditure of N28.7 trillion, with statutory transfers of N1.7 trillion, recurrent expenditure of N8.7 trillion, and a capital expenditure component of N9.9 trillion.

The committee worked closely with the executive during the appropriation process, and the executive requested additional funding for certain expenditure items that were not initially included in the bill. However, the committee noted that the 2024 Appropriation Bill was presented to the National Assembly late.