THE Senate has extended the implementation period for the capital component of the 2023 budget till June 30, 2024.
The Senate had extended the budget’s life span from 31st December 2023 to March 31, 2024.
The latest extension followed a request by President Bola Tinubu, through a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, March 20.
Tinubu, in the letter, said the extension was necessary to ensure that the provisions of the budget were fully implemented.
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The Senate Leader Bamidele Opeyemi, while presenting the Bill for an Act to re-enact the 2023 appropriation Act to extend the period of implementation to June and a bill for an Act to amend the 2023 Appropriation Act to extend its implementation period to 30th June 2024, said the release of the capital component of the budget to the MDAs was unlikely to be utilised before March 31, 2023, if it was not extended.
“I therefore urged the Senate to amend the 2023 budget implementation to June 30,” Bamidele said.
On Tuesday, March 19, the Senate passed a bill extending the implementation period of the N1.3 trillion 2023 supplementary budget from March 31 to June 30, 2024.
“The Bill for an Act to Amend the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Act, to extend the implementation year from 31st March 2024 to 30th June 2024, and for related matters,” was sponsored by the Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele and received expeditious consideration as it passed the second and third reading during plenary on Tuesday.
Bamidele observed that the budget could not be expended due to the late release of funds and sought an extension to the expiration clause of the Act.
He argued that an extension was critical to avoid compounding the problem of abandoned projects and allow its full utilisation to reflate the economy.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.