FEC Approves N2trn Supplementary Budget

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday approved the submission of a supplementary budget of over N2.17 trillion to the National Assembly (NASS).

The approval was given at the Council’s weekly meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Recall that at its last meeting, FEC proposed the sum of N26 trillion for the 2024 budget, which will be submitted to NASS before December 31.

Once approval of the supplementary budget is given, it will advance the country’s total budget to N28.17 trillion.

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the council had approved the 2024-2025 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Papers (FSP) at the FEC held last Monday in Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Bagudu said the supplementary budget breakdown includes; N605 billion to be allocated to security and national defence to improve security and N200 billion for supply of agricultural production.Also, N210 billion is earmarked for Federal Government workers for the approved wage awards meant to cover September to December and N400 billion has been budgeted for cash transfer to vulnerable and poor Nigerians between October and November.

“In negotiation with the Nigeria Labour Congress, the federal government agreed to pay N35,000 each to about 1.5 million employees of the federal government and that amounts from September, October, November and December 2023,” Bagudu said.

On the cash transfer, Bagudu said the federal government secured “$800m loan from the World Bank to pay cash transfers of N25,000 to 15 million households. The $800 million is for two months, October and November.”

Upon approval, the federal capital territory (FCT ) will receive N100 billion and N18 billion will be allocated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the governorship elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states in November.

The supplementary budget includes N5.5 billion for student loans and N200 billion set aside for capital supplementation.