By Agency Report
The Nigerian Senate has extended the validity of the entire Appropriation Act 2023 by another 3 months from the 31st of March to the 30th of June.
The upper chamber also extended the implementation of the full 2023 supplementary budget from March 31st to June 30th.
This follows two separate requests from President Bola Tinubu on the need to extend the two budgets to run concurrently.
The President’s requests generated controversy at plenary beginning with the Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume cautioning strongly that the requests should be treated as 2024 supplementary bills to avoid having several budgets operating at the same time and consequently running foul of Senate legislative procedures and the constitution.
Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jubrin disagrees, saying that what the Senate needed to do in order not to violate procedure was to simply re-enact the bills since they are both expired and tag it 2024 supplementary budget.
Relying on provisions of the Constitution, Senator Dankwabo Ibrahim, APC Gombe North who also served as accountant general of the federation before he became Governor of Gombe state warned that if the Senate extends the validity of the expired budgets to June, it would conflict with the 90-day window granted the Auditor-General of the Federation to submit his audited report in line with the constitution.
He argued further that the Senate cannot extend the validity of the recurrent components of the budgets since they have been earned.
The position of the former Governor of Gombe State and Accountant General of the Federation was supported by Senator Musa Maidoki, PDP Kebbi South who argued strongly that since the recurrent components of the expired budgets were already accrued in the 2024 Appropriation Act, it will be a misnomer for the senate to go ahead with the amendment.
The Senate thereafter suspended its rule 78 to expeditiously pass the two bills.
With this, the Federal Government will concurrently implement the 2023 budget, 2023 supplementary budget and 2024 appropriation Act.
Source: AIT
