Abuja — Senate yesterday approved N324.1billion for the execution of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's emergency programme on power.

The sum of N87.6billion was approved specifically as Federal Government counterpart fund to the Mambila power project in Taraba which is expected to generate over 4,000 MGW of electricity for the country.

The votes for power projects were the high points of the N683.3billion supplementary budget approved yesterday by the Senate.

Passage of the budget followed the adoption of the report of the Senate committee on appropriation which made significant amendment to the supplementary bill presented last week by President Yar'Adua.

A break down of the budget shows that the N463billion is for additional capital projects for the year while another N220.2 billion is for recurrent expenditure

The Upper House at a brief session yesterday, also approved the inclusion of N50 billion in the budget for the payment of renegotiated debts owed local contractors.

Presenting the report, Senator Iyiola Omisore, chairman, committee on appropriation said the N683. 301 billion budget is to be financed with N386.313 billion sourced from excess crude revenue in addition to N160 billion drawn from extra revenue from 2007 unspent budgets returned to the treasury.

Additional revenue for the budget include N100.864 billion expected from savings derived from the amendment of the 2008 appropriation and extra N36.123 billion expected from upward projection from independent revenue.

Omisore urged the Senate to pass the budget to enable the executive commence the implementation of the power projects which he said is essential for the realization of the economic Vision 2020 agenda for massive infrastructural development in the country.

Similarly, the House of Representatives yesterday passed the N683billion 2008 supplementary appropriation bill, forwarded to the National Assembly by President Yar' Adua last week for intervention in the power sector projects.

YarAdua had forwarded a bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation, the total sum of N683 billion, out of which N220 billion is for additional recurrent expenditure, while N463 billion is contribution to development fund for additional capital expenditure and portion of the federal government contribution for the funding of emergency power projects.

The national economic council at a meeting on the 19th of June this year, approved $2. 463 equivalent of N288, 233 billion for emergency power generation, transmission and distribution of additional mega watts of electricity.

At the sitting, Speaker, Hon Dimeji Bankole noted that the epileptic state of the power sector requires urgent attention, saying the speedy passage of the supplementary appropriation Act will address the problems in the sector.

He urged the federal lawmakers to exhaustively deliberate the bill and arrive at a resolution that will be in the interest to the generality of the public, as well as an achievement recorded by the present administration in terms of putting in place needed infrastructure.

In his contribution, Deputy Speaker, Hon Usman Nafada, said the house is guided by the nation's constitution on matters of the national budget, arguing that the constitution is very clear on the yearly appropriation.

"The executive has the right to forward to the national assembly the country's supplementary budget if the need arises, and let me state hear that supplementary bill is different from the 2008 amendment budget that has just been passed," he said

In his contribution, Hon CID Maduabum said the delay usually associated in passage of the budget should not be blamed on the National Assembly but be laid at the door post of the executive.

Also speaking on the floor of the house Hon John Eno Chairman house committee chairman on finance declared that if the supplementary appropriation bill is passed, the executive would commence the implementation process of the budget in the next two weeks in order to address the problems of executing capital projects before the end of the year.