News Post

PRESS STATEMENTS

Senate approves Buhari’s N276.8bn virement request 

The Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for the virement of N276,757,232,395 billion to fund expenditures in the 2021 budget.

The approval followed the consideration of a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North). 

The motion was entitled: “2021 Appropriation Virement Proposal.”

Abdullahi in his motion recalled that on Tuesday 21 December, 2021, the Senate President read a communication from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requesting for virement of the 2021 Appropriation Act to fund critical expenditure in the 2021 Budget.

“Notes also that pursuant to Section 3 of the Appropriation Act 2021, amounts Appropriated under the Act can be vired only with the approval the National Assembly;

“Aware that the details of the expenditures proposed for the virement are contained in Schedule 1 hereto attached, while Schedule 2 shows the source of the funds to be vired for the items in Schedule 1; and

“Further aware that the 2021 Budget Implementation is faced with challenges that will require additional funding for some critical and urgent Line Items in the Budget”, the lawmaker said.

President Buhari in his virement request contained in a letter dated December 16, 2021,  said the sum of N276,757,232,395 would be sourced from the N365 billion Service Wide Vote for Upscaling of National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). 

A breakdown of the virement request detailed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning showed that N199,129,053,400 was for payment of local contractors debts, public service wage adjustment for MDAs, OSSAP SDGs Projects 3 and Group Life Assurance for all MDAs. 

In addition, N4,500,821,569 is for the Federal Ministry of Education, N2,335,167,265 for the Nigeria Airforce, N4,617,811,857 for the Ministry of Defence, N25 billion naira for the National Assembly in settling minimum wage areas of National Assembly Staff and Intervention to settle outstanding liabilities owed local contractors.

Others are N20,038,920,773 for the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), N762,678,972 for the Nigeria Correctional Services, N592 million naira for the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) as financial assistance for the execution of 2021 End of Year Special Patrol Operation.

Also, the sum of N19,780,778,558 was funding for the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, and Jos University Teaching Hospital. 

Signed:

Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, DPA h.c, FAI, FIMC, CMC, FCP, Fsca

Special Assistant (Press)

to President of the Senate 

Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill: Senate to consult Reps on next line of action – Senate President 

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday said that the Senate would consult with the House of Representatives on how to respond to President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill. 

Lawan made this known after the upper chamber rose from a closed session to deliberate on the President’s decision to withhold assent to the electoral bill passed by the National Assembly. 

According to the Senate President, the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) does not permit the upper chamber to exclusively take any action on such matters in the absence of the House of Representatives, since the latter has embarked on recess. 

He, however, assured that a joint position would be reached with the House after due consultation with Nigerians to determine the appropriate line of action when both chambers reconvene from the Christmas break in January. 

Speaking on what transpired in the closed session, Lawan said, “The Senate in a closed session deliberated on matters relevant to the workings of the Senate in particular and, the National Assembly in general.

“The Senate also in the closed session discussed how to respond to the letter from Mr. President on the electoral bill amendment.

“The Senate consequently resolved to consult with the House of Representatives in January when both the Senate and House will be in session.

“Presently, the House of Reps has gone or recess and like we all know, the constitutional provision is for the Senate and House of Representatives to jointly take the appropriate action.

“The Senate also resolved to consult with our constituents during our recess in January.

“The Senate believes that our constituents have a role to play as the major stakeholders in the laws that we make in the National Assembly.”

President Buhari in the letter dated December 13, 2021, had explained that his decision to withhold assent to the electoral bill was informed by advice from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government after a thorough review. 

According to the President, signing the bill into law would have serious adverse legal, financial, economic and security consequences on the country, particularly in view of Nigeria’s peculiarities. 

He added that it would also impact negatively on the rights of citizens to participate in the government as constitutionally ensured.

Signed:

Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, DPA h.c, FAI, FIMC, CMC, FCP, Fsca

Special Assistant (Press)

to President of the Senate 

Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

Senate passes N17.12trn budget for 2022

…adjourns plenary till January 18, 2022

The Senate on Wednesday passed an aggregate expenditure of N17,126,873,917,692 trillion naira as budget for the 2022 fiscal year. 

The passage followed the consideration of a report by the Appropriations Committee on the 2022 Appropriations Bill. 

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Barau Jibrin, said the revenue projection for the 2022 budget was predicated on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper approved by the National Assembly.

Barau recalled that the National Assembly had approved 1.88mbpd Daily Oil Production and US$62 as against $US57 proposed by the executive arm of government. 

He explained that the increase in oil price Benchmark from US$57 to US$62 was done to reflect the current market value in the international market.

He added that the exchange rate was pegged at N410.15/US$1, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Rate at 4.2 and Inflation Rate at 13 percent. 

The lawmaker explained that out of the N17,126,873,917,692 passed, N869,667,187,542 is for Statutory Transfer; N6,909,849,788,737 is for Recurrent Expenditure; N5,467,403,959,863 is for Capital Expenditure; and N3,879,952,981,550 is for Debt Service. 

The Committee in its recommendations stated that additional revenues discovered should be provided to the Works and Housing Ministry for funding of critical projects, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the 2023 General Elections, Defence and the National Population Commission for the 2022 Population Census.

It added also that N98 billion naira increase in deficit should be approved to take care of some of the additional requests from the executive arm of government. 

A breakdown of recurrent expenditure shows that N61,079,757,342 was budgeted for the Presidency in 2022, N996,09 1,292,618 for Defence, N79,243,483,198 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, N55,796,274,038 for Federal Ministry of Information and Culture,  N257,626,461,524 for Ministry of Interior, N7,919,353,247 for Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, and N4,476,854,068 for the Auditor General for the Federation.

While the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs received N518,532,292,470, the Ministry of a communications and Digital Economy got N23,387,996,618,  National Security Adviser – N155,820,2 14,009, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission – N1,344,674,257, Secretary to the Government of the Federation – N62,575,420,244, Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs – N4,439,614,685, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – N75,544,228,649, and Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning – N28,604, 104,969.

In addition, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment  received N17,966,745,438, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment – N14,453,726,978, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – N49,683,523,165, Federal Ministry of Transport – N15,892,132,819, Federal Ministry of Aviation – N7,692,548,460, Federal Ministry of Power – N6,262,156,943, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources – N30,502,257, 191.

Also, N12,038,392,758 was budgeted for the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, N31,935,604,197 for Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, N870,534,226 for National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, N456,245,928 for Fiscal Responsibility Commission, N10,669,058,320 for Federal Ministry of Water Resources, N26,761,780,448 for Federal Ministry of Justice, and N11,655,253,717 for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission.

Others are Federal Capital Territory Administration – Nil, Federal Ministry of Niger Delta – N2,569,680,304, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development – N185,489,102,966, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs – N2,103,758,084, Federal Ministry of Education – N593,473,925,256, Federal Ministry of Health -  N462,858,698,619, Federal Ministry of Environment – N22,796,647,842, National Population Commission – N8,880,618,082, and Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development – N7,669,972,542.

Other Executive bodies such as the Federal Code of Conduct Bureau received N2,343,845,401, Code of Conduct Tribunal – N830,910,644, Federal Character Commission – N3,272,871,999, Federal Civil Service Commission – N1,217,473,478, Police Service Commission – N926,505,919, and Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission – N2,337,230,632.

The Senate, after passing the 2022 budget, adjourned plenary till January 18, 2022 for the Christmas break. 

Signed:

Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, DPA h.c, FAI, FIMC, CMC, FCP, Fsca

Special Assistant (Press)

to President of the Senate 

Wednesday, December 22, 2021.