The revised budget of N17,319,704,091,019 trillion for the 2022 fiscal year has been approved by the National Assembly yesterday.
The revised sum of N17.3 trillion, which is in contrast with the 2022 budget of N17.13 trillion passed last year, represents a N193 billion increase.
While the Senate approved N3.55 trillion for petrol subsidy, the House of Representatives okayed N4trillion, pegged the oil benchmark at $73 per barrel, from $62.
The approval of the Appropriations Act, 2022 (Amendment) Bill was sequel to the consideration of a report by the Committee on Appropriations presented by its Chairman, Senator Jibrin Barau, All Progressives Congress, APC, Kano North.
The approval came with the passage of a bill to amend the 2022 Appropriations Act transmitted to the National Assembly on February 10, 2022, by President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration.
Recall that the Senate had in December 2021, passed a budget of N17,126,873,917,692 trillion.
Of the total sum of N17,319,704,091,019 trillion passed, N817,699,410,210 billion is for Statutory Transfers; N3,978,087,110,437 trillion for Debt Service; N7,108,621,131,849 trillion for Recurrent (Non-Debt Expenditure); and N5,415,296,438,523 trillion for Contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure.
Also, the Senate approved the total sum of N3.557 trillion for PMS subsidy in 2022, forward in two separate requests by the President to the National Assembly for approval.
It also approved the N192.52 billion aggregate increase sought by the executive, and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the Nigerian Police Force to enhance the morale of officers and men.
President Buhari in a letter to the legislature, dated February 10, 2022, sought an additional N2.557 trillion to fund subsidy payments from July to December 2022, just as he disclosed that 138 of the 254 projects in the budget, totalling N13.24 billion, had been identified for deletion.
The National Assembly in December 2021, had approved the sum of N442.7 billion for subsidy in the 2022 budget for the period of January to June this year.
Buhari in the letter, however, anchored his fresh request on the fact that PMS subsidy was not duly appropriated for in the national budget beyond June.
According to him, the development is a result of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, which stopped all such payments past the given June deadline.
