Cosmas Ekpunobi
3 July 2008
Abuja — President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday presented an amended Appropriation Bill of N2.567 trillion for the 2008 fiscal year to the Senate for approval.
The amount is N182.5 billion lower than the N2.75 trillion budget passed by the National Assembly on March 12 and assented to by President Yar'Adua in April.
The proposed amendment was contained in a letter sent to Senate President David Mark by the president and read yesterday on the floor of the Senate.
Reduction in the federal budget, the president said would facilitate the implementation of his seven-point agenda. He said the amendment would address the power crisis, transportation, food security and defence, among other key sectors of the nation's economy.
A breakdown of the budget shows that N162.57 billion is for statutory transfers, N372.2 billion is for debt service, N1.32 trillion is for recurrent expenditure while N714 billion is for capital expenditure.
In a letter dated June 26, read by Senator Mark at yesterday's plenary session, President Yar'Adua said. "I firmly believe that this targeted spending proposal will further stimulate economic growth and improve service delivery to our people within the context of a stable macro-economic environment.
"It is my hope that the National Assembly will accord the 2008 Appropriation Amendment Bill the usual expeditious consideration," he added.
Daily Champion learnt that the amendment bill was also in line with the agreement reached between President Yar'Adua and the leadership of the National Assembly.
The agreement was reached during the budget face-off between the executive and the legislative arm.
The leadership of the Assembly had asked the President to sign the budget first as passed and to present his disagreements as an amendment bill.
President Yar'Adua had earlier rejected the N2.9 trillion budget passed by the National Assembly on February 20, before it was reduced to N2.75 on March 12.
A further breakdown of the figure also showed that the Federal Ministry of Interior got the sum of N249.1 billion while the Defence received N143.1 billion for recurrent expenditure.
The National Assembly got the sum of N97.3 billion while ministries and agencies will share the sum of 582.7 billion as capital vote.
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