2024 budget: Works, finance, defence ministries get N1.35trn for capital projects

The Senate has released the sectoral allocations of the N27.5trillion budget for 2024 fiscal year. This is coming amid the controversy over the sketchy details of the budget presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Our correspondent observed that lawmakers were only provided copies of the president’s speech during debate […]

The Senate has released the sectoral allocations of the N27.5trillion budget for 2024 fiscal year.

This is coming amid the controversy over the sketchy details of the budget presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Our correspondent observed that lawmakers were only provided copies of the president’s speech during debate on the budget, a development some members of parliament described as strange.

Legislators had raised concerns over the non-availability of the budget details and called for the suspension of the consideration until the breakdown of the proposed expenditure is provided.

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However, the proposal was passed for second reading in both chambers without lawmakers getting the breakdown of the estimates, including allocations to different sectors.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, Friday night released some highlights of the budget, especially the sectoral allocations.

In the fiscal document, the ministries of work, finance and defence got the highest share of the N8.7trn capital component of the 2024 budget.

The Ministry of Works got N521.3billion, followed by the Ministry of Finance with N519.9billion, while N308.2 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Defence.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is earmarked N304.4bn while N265.4bn was proposed for capital projects in the Ministry of Education.

Others are Ministry of Power, N264.2bn; Government-owned Enterprises, N820.9bn; TETFund, N665bn; Housing and Urban Development, N96.9bn; Water Resources, N87.7bn and Police Affairs, N69bn.

The National Assembly under statutory transfers got N198bn; Niger Delta Development Commission, N324.8bn; Universal Basic Education, N251.4bn; National Judicial Council, N165bn; North East Development Commission, N126bn and Basic Health Care Provision Fund, N125.7bn.

Under Capital Supplementation, Zonal Intervention, otherwise called constituency projects for federal lawmakers got N100bn; Special Projects, N108bn; Contingency (capital), N200bn; Aid and Grants funded projects, N685.6bn; National Social Investment Programme Agency,  N100bn.