President Bola Tinubu has signed the 2023 supplementary appropriation bill of N2.17 trillion into law.
Tinubu signed the Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2023 in his office at the State House in the presence of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; and Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacheaus Adedeji.
The supplementary budget became a subject of controversy days ago due to several line items, especially N5 billion allocation for a “Presidential Yatch.”
However, addressing State House correspondents on October 16, 2023, Bagudu said the largest chunk of N605bn was earmarked for security, to further enhance the capacity of the armed forces and security agencies to address current and emerging security challenges nationwide.
Other items include N5.5bn for the student loan scheme and over N616bn in wage awards for civil servants to augment the heightened cost of living post-subsidy.
(Punch)
