By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has approved the 2024 supplementary budget for the Federal Capital Territory Abuja to the sum of N98.5 billion.
At the committee of the whole presided over by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, lawmakers adopted the report of the committee on Federal Capital Territory on a bill for an Act to Authorise the issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration account to the sum of N98.5 billion.
The bill which passed for second and third reading was sponsored by the Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Rep. Aliyu Muktar Betara.
Betara said: “That this House do receive the Report of the Committee on Federal Capital Territory on a Bill for an Act to Authorise the issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration account, the total sum of N98,500,000,000 (ninety-eight billion, five hundred million) only for Capital Projects; for the Service of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for the Financial ending 31 December 2024.
According to Rep. Betara the supplementary budget was necessary to accommodate additional inflows from the FCT Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), as requested by the President in a communication to the House on May 16, 2024.
He stated that the House Committee on FCT met with the minister and other officials to review the request, and subsequently adopted the report, authorising the issuance of N98.5 billion from the FCT statutory revenue fund.
“In accordance with Sections 62, 80, 88, 89 and 299 of the Constitution of 1999 as amended the House Committee met with the minister and other relevant officials of FCT.”
The budget was unanimously passed.
Naijablitznews.com reports that the Senate had on Wednesday stepped down debate on the supplementary appropriation bill requesting details after Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele presented the proposal for approval.
The Senate Leader had told his colleagues that the FCT 2024 Statutory Supplementary Appropriation Bill seeks to authorise the issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration Account, the total sum of N98.5billion only, “To accommodate additional inflow from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), resulting to a revised total FCT-IRS 2024 Statutory Revenue Appropriation to the sum of N348.720billion.
“The FCT 2024 Supplementary Budget is to consolidate on the magnitude and scope of the ongoing projects simultaneously within the City Centre and across the six Area Councils in the Territory to ensure that the vision of the renewed hope mantra for a befitting Capital City for Nigeria and Nigerians is accordingly achieved.”