By Adedapo Adesanya
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas, said on Tuesday that the 2024 budget will be passed on Saturday, December 30, 2023.
Mr Abbas made this disclosure during the plenary session following the resumption of the green chamber after a brief recess to allow committees to scrutinise the budget estimates submitted by President Bola Tinubu.
The Speaker, however, did not reveal the figure finally agreed on as it will still harmonise its position with the Senate.
He notified the chamber that the Appropriation Committee has been directed to prepare reports of the budget defence by the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for submission by 8 pm on Tuesday.
President Tinubu presented a budget of N27.5 trillion to a joint section of the National Assembly on November 29 in Abuja.
The President pegged the budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year at N9.18 trillion and explained that the deficit represented 3.88 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product.
“The N9.18 trillion deficit is lower than the N13.78 trillion deficit recorded in 2023 which represents 6.11 per cent of GDP.
“The deficit will be financed by new borrowings totalling N7.83 trillion, N298.49 billion from privatisation proceeds and N1.05 trillion drawdown on multilateral and bilateral loans secured for specific development projects,” Mr Tinubu had stated.
On December 1, 2023, the Senate passed the N27.5 trillion budget for a second reading. A breakdown shows:
– Education: N2.18 Trillion (7.9 per cent of Budget)
– N1.23 trillion provisioned for the Federal Ministry of Education and its agencies (Recurrent & Capital expenditure)
– N251.47 billion allocated to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)
– N700.0 billion earmarked for infrastructure projects in Tertiary institutions through Transfers to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)
Health: N1.33 Trillion (5 per cent of Budget)
– N1.07 trillion allocated for the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies (Recurrent & Capital expenditure)
– N137.21 billion set aside for Gavi/Immunization funds, including Counterpart Funding for Donor Supported Programmes
N125.74 billion transferred to the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) amounting to 1 per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF)
Defence and Security: N3.25 Trillion (12 per cent of Budget)
– Allocation for Military, Police, Intelligence & ParaMilitary (Recurrent & Capital expenditure)
Infrastructure: N1.32 Trillion (5 per cent of Budget)
– Includes provisions for Works & Housing, Power, Transport, Water Resources, and Aviation
Social Development & Poverty Reduction Programs: N534 Billion (2 per cent of Budget)
– Allocation for Social Investments and Poverty Reduction Programmes
The breakdown also underlined the importance of each sector’s allocations in the 2024 budget plan, aiming to enhance the various facets of national development and welfare.
Modupe Gbadeyanka