Tinubu Requests Speedy Approval Of N2 Trillion Supplementary Budget

President Bola Tinubu has urged the Senate to quickly consider and approve a supplementary budget of N2.17 trillion.

The Nigerian leader made the request in a letter read on the floor of the Senate during a plenary session on Tuesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

In his letter, the President said the Supplementary Budget would support the provisional wage of N35,000 to workers, costing the federal government N210 billion and N400 billion as cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians.

Tinubu said the supplementary budget would also shore up the country’s security and agricultural sectors, adding that the forthcoming off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo would draw N18 billion from the budget.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Monday, approved the 2023 supplementary budget of N2.1 trillion to address labour wage adjustments, security and more.

Upon approval by the national assembly, the 2023 budget, which is the last appropriation bill of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, will rise to N28.17 trillion.

Meanwhile, the president has sent the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) ahead of the 2024 budget presentation, to the Senate for approval.

The MTEF and FSP are documents on which a budget is premised. In the document, the federal government fixed $73.96 for the price of crude per barrel and an exchange rate of N700.