The Senate, yesterday, extended the capital component of the 2024 Appropriation Act by another six months, amid protests from some lawmakers.
The budget was earlier extended for a period of six months, a period of grace which is due to elapse on June 30. However, at the commencement of proceedings yesterday, the Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation, Adeola Olamilekan (APC/Ogun West), came up with a bill seeking a fresh extension of the 2024 budget.
The piece of legislation was titled: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the Capital Component of the Act from the 30th June 2025 to 31st December, 2025, and other related matters, 2025 ( SB 854).”
In a short presentation, Olamilekan said that the extension of the life of the 2024 budget for a second time had become necessary and should be supported to enable the government complete the implementation of the capital projects contained in the said budget.
He argued that given the fact that the government was committed to implementing the budget to its fullest, that goal could only be achieved if the life of the budget was extended for another six months. In a swift response, some lawmakers, mainly from the opposition camp, expressed misgivings on the repeated extension of a budget that ought to have been fully executed by December 31. 2024.
Leader of the Minority Caucus, Senator Abba Morro (PDP/ Benue South), said budget extension was a serious issue which the legislature must take up with the Federal Ministry of Finance, warning that the National Assembly will become an embarrassment to itself, if it fails to take the bull by the horns. “I am reluctantly supporting the extension of the 2024 capital component of the budget because it has been observed that many contractors who had committed their funds into executing projects have not been paid.
Many contractors who don’t have money have had their 2024 projects stalled and we have 2025 budget before us. “Even those who have funds to commit to projects will be very, very unwilling to commit their money into these projects, because of the fear that they will not be paid.
