The Senate has amended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act and 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act.
The new amendments by the lawmakers increased the total CBN advances to the Federal Government from the current 5% to a maximum of 15% while the amendment of the 2022 Appropriation act extend the implementation year from the 30th of June to the 31st of December, 2023.
According to the Senate Leader, who read the lead debate on the bill, the proposed amendment is to enable the Federal Government to meet its immediate and future obligation in the approval of the ways and means by the National Assembly and advances to the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
These were part of the deliberations of the upper chamber which convened an emergency session just two days before the presidential inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on the amended Appropriation Act, the senators said its to allow full implementation of the budget, especially in light of the 2022 supplementary budget approved in December 2022.
The extension had allowed the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government to utilise a large proportion of funds released to them.
However, according to Senate Leader, Abdullahi Gobir, significant amounts of funds remain with MDAs and will require a further extension to be fully expended.
He said that considering the critical importance of some key projects nearing completion, requesting a further extension of the expiration clause in the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill is expedient to avoid compounding the problem of abandoned projects as some of them were not provided for in the 2023 Budget.
The Senate is therefore amending the 2022 appropriation act to allow full utilization of the capital releases to help reflate the economy.
This is the second time in the 9th Senate that an emergency session is convened. The first was during the COVID-19 pandemic to approve funds to address the pandemic.
