The National Assembly in the 2023 Appropriations Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari got the highest budgetary allocation of N328.1 billion since 23 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria.
Breakdown of the fund shower that the sum of N228.1 billion was captured under the Statutory Transfer while the sum of N100 billion was approved for Zonal Intervention Programmes (ZIPs) otherwise called Constituency Projects for the 469 federal lawmakers since President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Nigeria’s total federal budget rose from N947.690 billion in 1999 to N21.827 trillion in 2023 fiscal year.
Breakdown of the 2023 budgetary allocation showed that the sum of N30,173,520,592 was approved for Severance/Inauguration of Outgoing and Incoming 9th and 10th Assembly (Legislators and Legislative Aides).
The appropriated fund is for the 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives as well as their Legislative Aides.
The sum of N30,492,518,529 is for National Assembly Office. The fund is for the National Assembly management through the office of the Clerk for the National Assembly (CNA).
According to the details provided in the Appropriation Act, the sum of N33,267,001,807 was approved for the 109 Senators; while the sum of N51,994,511,954 was approved for the 360 members of the 9th House of Representatives.
The sum of N10,555,809,322 was also approved for the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC).
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Additional sum of N10 billion was approved for the construction of NASC building, located besides the National Assembly complex, Abuja within the Three Arms Zone.
Also approved was the sum of N16,520,653,763 for all the Legislatives Aides employed by the Senators and members of the House of Representatives.
Further breakdown of statutory approvals given showed that two standing Committees namely Appropriations and Public Account Committees of both Chambers got budgetary allocation worth N551,734,473.
The sum of N118,970,215 was approved for Senate Public Account Committee while the sum of N142,764,258 was approved for the House of Representatives’ Public Account Committee.
Similarly, Mr. President approved the sum of N125 million for Appropriation Committee Department – Senate; while the sum of N165 million is for House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation.
The sum of N11,307,475,470 was approved for General Services.
Approval was also given for the sum of N7,411,813,596 for National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
Additional sum of N2.500 billion was approved for completion of NILDS Headquarters located along Airport Road, Abuja.
The sum of N671,335,001 was approved for Service Wide Vote; while the sum of N1,059,121,701 is for Office of Retired Clerks and Permanent Secretaries.
The sum of N4.250 billion is for the ongoing National Assembly Library Building being constructed within the premises of the National Assembly complex, Abuja.
Additional sum of N7.500 billion was approved for the completion of National Library Complex.
The sum of N127.500 million was also approved for hosting of Conference of Speakers of African Parliament (COSAP) held in September, 2022.
Other line item approved include: N8.500 billion for National Assembly liabilities without breakdown of the details of the liabilities.
The sum of N255 million was approved for National Assembly e-Library while the sum of N118,150,000 for National Assembly Dashboard.
The sum of N850 million was also approved for Constitution Review in the 2023 Appropriations Act.
Recall that the sum of N1 billion was approved on yearly basis for the Special Ad-hoc Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives since the inauguration of the 9th Assembly.
