Experts knock lawmakers as Reps raise budget to N17.12tn
The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed the 2022 Appropriation Bill, raising the total estimates of the Federal Government’s budget from the proposed N16,391,023,917,692 to N17,126,873,917,692, an increase by N735,850,000,000. The lawmakers raised the oil benchmark from $57 per barrel to $62. They also increased the National Assembly’s budget by N5bn, from the proposed N134bn to N139bn. The budget figures were increased amidst uncertainty in the global oil market due to the omicron variant of COVID-19. The National Assembly had in 2020 increased its budget from N125bn to the N128bn. In 2021, the national legislature also hiked its allocation from N125bn to N133,999,950,000. The House explained that additional revenue would be allocated to the agencies that came forward with additional report that was not captured in the budget. These agencies include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 election, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the National Assembly (Constituency outreach), Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the National Population Commission (NPC) for the 2022 population census.
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