The National Assembly (NASS) has extended the implementation of the 2023 Appropriation Act and the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget to December 31, 2024. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives approved this extension.
The Senate made this decision during an emergency session, extending the deadline from June 30, 2024, to December 31, 2024, at the request of President Bola Tinubu. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the extension after the budgets were read three times during the plenary.
This marks the second extension of the 2023 budget implementation under President Tinubu’s administration. The first extension was approved in March, pushing the deadline to June 30, 2024. The aim is to ensure the completion of ongoing projects funded by the budgets. Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele emphasized the importance of avoiding abandoned projects, urging colleagues to support the extension.
Minority Leader Abba Moro and Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume also backed the extension, highlighting the need to finish ongoing capital projects. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu pointed out the numerous incomplete projects and urged a focus on completion, despite criticism of the extension. However, Senator Abdul Ningi expressed concerns about continuous extensions and called for stricter implementation of approved projects. In response, Akpabio assured that the Senate would oversee the capital component’s implementation.
Following discussions, the Senate held a voice vote, with most lawmakers supporting the extension.
The House of Representatives also approved the extension for the capital component of the 2023 budget and the supplementary budget from June 30 to December 31, 2024. This followed the introduction, debate, and passage of bills to amend the Appropriation Act 2023 and the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2023.
House leader Hon. Julius Ihonvbere led the debate, explaining that the budgets’ contents remained unchanged, with only the implementation date adjusted to complete ongoing projects. However, Minority Leader Hon. Kingsley Chinda raised concerns about managing four concurrent budgets, suggesting that the uncompleted projects from the 2023 budgets be transferred to the 2024 supplementary budget.
Despite the debate, the House passed the bills for the third and final time after dissolving into an executive session. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen appealed to members to support the extension, emphasizing the importance of security-related projects.
