Tayo Busayo

 

DAILY COURIER – The two chambers of the National Assembly have passed for second reading of the N20.5 trillion Appropriation Bill for 2023.

 

The bill scaled the second reading on Wednesday after members debated the general principle of the bill.

 

At the upper chamber, the Senate referred the bill to its Committee on Appropriation for further legislative action and expressed dissatisfaction over the rise in recurrent expenditure which is up from over 6 trillion naira this year to over 8 trillion budgeted for next year.

 

According to the lawmakers, Nigeria cannot continue to borrow to fund 1 percent of its population. Subsequently, the Senate asked its committee to report back in four weeks.

 

It adjourned its sitting for the next four weeks to allow its various committees to work on the 2023 budget estimates as well as a budget defence by various ministries, departments, and agencies.

 

The Senate will reconvene plenary on November 15, except if there is an emergency.

 

Similarly, in the lower chamber, the lawmakers commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the Intervention Fund for the Academic Staff Union of Universities, as well as the improvement in the budget of the judiciary.

 

They, however, expressed concern over the parameters of the budget, the surging debt profile, recurrent components of the proposed estimates and fuel subsidy provision.

 

The deputy minority leader, Toby Okechukwu, described the benchmark on which the N20.5 trillion is based as “a distortion of reality”.

 

He wondered why the government is planning to fund the subsidy till June 2023, thereby, leaving it for the incoming administration to face.

 

“This government has no courage to undertake that enterprise, it has been political. It is not driven by patriotism. I think this House should be courageous, we should face our reality and ensure we retool the budget so that it can be effective for Nigerians”, he said.

 

In his submission, the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elimeleu, asked both the federal and state governments to work towards bringing an end to the sit-at-home order in the South-East.