NASS Passes ₦2.17trn Supplementary Budget, Drops ₦5bn for Presidential Yacht

The National Assembly on Thursday passed the ₦2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget after the third reading. The budget was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday.

The budget was passed after the Senate adopted the report of the harmonised sittings of both red and green chambers on the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill as submitted by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC Ogun West), according to Channels.

The budget includes ₦605 billion for national security and defence, ₦200 billion for agriculture, and ₦210 billion for the wage awards for federal government workers. The budget also includes ₦10 billion for the student loan fund, which was increased from the original ₦5.5 billion after the House of Representatives removed the N5 billion presidential yacht from the budget.

The chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi, said the committee removed the item and moved the money to the student loan section to make it, ₦10 billion.

President Tinubu had earlier presented a ₦2.176tn 2023 supplementary budget proposal to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, October 31.

Other allocations include the Department of State Services (₦49 billion), the Office of the National Security Adviser (₦29.7 billion), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (₦18 billion) for the conduct of the forthcoming off-cycle governorship election in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo States on November 11.

Read the full supplementary budget here.