PUNCH
The Federal Government is set to spend N3tn on the new minimum wage and the payment of pensions and gratuities, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, disclosed this on Friday during a meeting with the Senate Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Olamilekan Adeola.
The minister presented the general principles of the newly amended 2024 budget to the committee at the meeting.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had, after a meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress on Thursday, approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for Nigerian workers. The president also pledged to review the national minimum wage law every three years.
The National Assembly, in both chambers, had on Wednesday passed for first and second readings an amendment of N6.2tn to the 2024 budget, increasing the budget size to N33.7tn.
In a letter to the Senate, read in plenary by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu sought the withdrawal of N3.2tn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for capital expenditure. Additionally, he requested another N3tn for additional recurrent expenditure for the year ending on December 31, 2024.
For expeditious consideration, the Senate gave the requests presented as executive bills, first and second readings, and mandated its committees on Appropriations and Finance to inject more legislative inputs and report back within a week. In his lead debate on the Appropriation Amendment Bill, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment sought to authorise the issuance of N3.2tn for capital expenditure and N3tn for recurrent expenditure from the consolidated fund. He explained that this would help fund capital infrastructure development, education, healthcare access, and public welfare initiatives.
