The Nigerian Senate has passed the supplementary budget of N895 billion for the year 2021.
The budget was passed on Wednesday after the chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Senator Jibrin Barau, presented a report during the plenary session.
While presenting his report, Barau said his committee engaged with the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and other stakeholders on the request.
While N722 billion was earmarked for contribution to the development fund, N173 was fixed for recurrent non-debt expenditure.
On June 9, the federal executive council approved the supplementary budget and President Muhammadu Buhari asked the National Assembly to approve the sum.
According to a letter sent to the Senate, the budget is meant to boost military operations and facilitate the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine.
After the supplementary budget was passed, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the relevant committees of the upper legislative chamber must carry out oversight to ensure that the funds are properly utilised.
“Committees should be alive to know these funds are applied. This is a very necessary intervention by this senate for the country,” Lawan said.
“We have to continue to fund our security agencies even in the 2022 appropriation bill to overcome these security challenges.”
Buhari had presented the initial 2021 budget proposal of N13.08 trillion to a joint sitting of the national assembly on October 8.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News
