Okay.ng learned that the main principles of the N20.51 trillion Appropriation Bill, which President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the joint session of the National Assembly last Friday, would be the subject of debate by members of the House of Representatives today, on Wednesday.
The proposed budget is N750 billion more than the N19.76 trillion that was approved by the Senate and House of Representatives in the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) passed by the Senate and House.
The 2023 budget parameters and fiscal assumptions were broken down as follows: $70 oil price benchmark; 1.69 million barrels of oil produced daily (including condensates at a rate of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day); N435.57/$ exchange rate; 3.75 percent. projected GDP growth rate and inflation of 17.16%.
The proposed N20.51 trillion budget for the 2023 fiscal year includes statutory transfers of N744.11 billion, non-debt recurrent costs of N8.27 trillion, personnel costs of N4.99 trillion, pensions, gratuities, and retiree benefits of N854.8 billion, overheads of N1.11 trillion, capital expenditures of N5.35 trillion, including the capital component of statutory transfers, and overheads of N1.11 trillion.
According to him, based on these fiscal hypotheses and parameters, the total amount of federally collectible revenue is estimated to be N16.87 trillion, the total amount of federally distributable revenue is estimated to be N11.09 trillion in 2023, and the total amount of revenue available to fund the federal budget for 2023 is estimated to be N9.73 trillion, including the revenues of 63 government-owned enterprises.
“Oil income is forecast to reach N1.92 trillion, non-oil taxes to reach N2.43 trillion, and FGN,” According to projections, independent revenues will be N2.21 trillion, other revenues will be N762 billion, and the retained revenues of the GOEs will be N2.42 trillion”.
Further breakdown of the expenditure proposals including recurrent, overhead and capital expenditures showed that Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning got the highest share of N10,101,444,709,834 followed by Federal Ministry of Defence – N1,248,170,610,116; Federal Ministry of Education – N1,078,421,185,229; and Federal Ministry of Health – N1,097,703,830,504, respectively.
The presidency proposed the sum of N133,730,697,750; National Assembly – N169 billion; Judiciary – N150 billion; Ministry of Foreign Affairs – N98,114,501,448; Federal Ministry of Information and Culture – N64,239,951,994; Ministry of Interior – N304,395,280,926;
Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation – N12,698,620,521; Auditor-General for the Federation – N5,112,583,323; Public Complaints Commission – N10,690 billion; Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC)- N1,481,847,233; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – N50 billion; Federal Character Commission – N3,762,247,406; and Federal Ministry of Police Affairs – N813,912,057,660.
Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy – N46,480,627,751; National Security Adviser – N195,018,151,836; Code of Conduct Tribunal – N902,756,502; Infrastructure Concession Regulatory – N1,437,973,172; Police Service Commission – N1,026,626,250; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)- N90,506,027,316;
Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs – N5,522,291,222; Federal Ministry of Agriculture And Rural Development – N228,428,688,402; Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment – N42,738,715,093; Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment – N21,321,652,639 and Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation –N76,274,953,833.
Federal Ministry of Transport proposed the sum of N126,532,023,138; Federal Ministry of Aviation – N96,398,200,287; Federal Ministry of Power – N239,506,204,145; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources – N34,207,414,787; Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development – N37,201,780,977;
Federal Ministry of Works and Housing – N356,031,701,295; National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission – N986,087,338; Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission – N2,709,794,428; Fiscal Responsibility Commission – N827,392,367; Federal Ministry of Water Resources – N212,140,279,334; Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission – N13,765,467,681; Code of Conduct Bureau – N2,695,695,014; Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA)- N13,474,499,132; and Federal Ministry of Niger Delta – N127,041,796,001.
Federal Ministry of Youth & Sports Development – N191,924,649,082; Federal Ministry of Women Affairs – N17,183,710,715; Federal Ministry of Justice – N71,291,012,971; Federal Ministry of Environment – N79,375,746,176; National Population Commission – N10,326,055,574; and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development proposed the sum of N355,093,601,378.
The debate would have taken place today, according to the Deputy Speaker, the Honorable Idris Wase, but it was not on the order paper.
In his remarks, the deputy speaker was reminded by the chairman of the Rules and Business Committee, Hon. Abubakar Fulata, that they had not yet received copies of the main budget.
Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, the majority leader, responded by stating that the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Muktar Betara, should take note and take the appropriate action.
While making his decision, Honourable Wase encouraged Fulata to make sure that everyone received a copy of President Buhari’s speech even if the budget copy was not yet ready because the House was passing the budget for Nigerians.
