Senate passes amended 2024 Appropriation Act

The Senate passed the 2024 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill on Tuesday, providing for the sum of N6,222,595,926,139 (six trillion, two hundred and twenty-two billion, five hundred and ninety-five million, nine hundred and twenty-six thousand, and one hundred and thirty-nine naira only).

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu transmitted the bill for an act to amend the Appropriation Act 2024 on July 17, 2024. Further checks revealed that the over N6 trillion estimate comprises two components: N3,222,595,926,139 (three trillion, two hundred and twenty-two billion, five hundred and ninety-five million, nine hundred and twenty-six thousand, and one hundred and thirty-nine naira only) for capital expenditure and N3,000,000,000,000 (three trillion naira) for recurring expenditure.

With this development, the 2024 Appropriation has increased from N28,777,404,073,861 (Twenty-Eight Trillion, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Seven Billion, Four Hundred and Four Million, Seventy-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-One Naira) to N35.056 trillion.

According to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Solomon Adeola, the request for the amendment of the 2024 Appropriation Act was informed by the need to provide the government equity component of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Projects and other critical projects across the country, as well as other recurrent expenditure requirements, including the provision for the new minimum wage, among others.

The Appropriation Committee in its report further stated that “the additional expenditure contained in the Amendment Bill will be financed by the one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits for the year 2023 as approved by the National Assembly.”

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