The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, approved the extension of the implementation period of the capital component of the 2022 Appropriation Act by six months, from June to December 2023.
The House, as a Committee of Supply, considered and approved the request made by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on behalf of the Federal Government.
The legislation was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Appropriation Act, 2022 to Extend the Implementation of the Capital Aspect of the Appropriation Act, 2022 from 30 June 2023 to 31 December 2023.’
Based on the request of the Executive arm of the government, the National Assembly had extended the lifespan of last year’s budget from December 31, 2022, to June 30, 2023, before the presidential request for further extension.
The latest extension is coming as Buhari leaves power and Bola Tinubu is sworn in as President on Monday.
The Tinubu administration will be left with concurrent implementation of the 2022 and 2023 Appropriation Acts.
Meanwhile, the House also passed the 2021, 2022 and 2023 budgets of the Niger Delta Development Commission, with the budgetary estimates for the three years totalling N2.29tn.
Passage of the budgets followed the consideration and adoption of the reports by the House Committee on NDDC on the proposed estimates earlier on Tuesday, as laid by the Chairman, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The House passed a budget with estimates totalling N485,794,575,131, of which the sum of N28,247,952,510 is for personnel expenditure, the sum of N14,535,485,480 is for overhead expenditure, the sum of N2,916,562,010 is for internal capital expenditure and the sum of N440,094,575,131 is for development projects for the service of the NDDC for the financial year ending on 31 March 2022.
The House also passed a budget with estimates totalling N928,297,049,364, of which the sum of N34,247,952,510 is for personnel expenditure, while the sum of N16,521,485,480 is for overhead expenditure, while the sum of N3,719,062,675 is for internal capital expenditure and the sum of N543,808,548,699 is for development projects for the service of the NDDC for the financial year ending on 31 March 2023.
The House equally passed a budget with estimates totalling N876,000,000,000, of which the sum of N34,247,952,510 is for personnel expenditure, while the sum of N17,477,830,723 is for overhead expenditure, while the sum of N3,719,062,675 is for internal capital expenditure and the sum of N490,555,154,092 is for development projects for the service of the NDDC for the financial year ending on 31 March 2024.
In the same vein, the House passed the budget of the Federal Capital Territory Administration with estimates totalling N579,693,907,532 for the 2023 financial year.
Out of the N579,693,907,532, the sum of N78,135,703,531 is for personnel costs; the sum of N122,513,919,180 is for overhead costs, while the balance of N379,044,284,822 is for Capital Projects, for the service of the FCT, Abuja.