The National Assembly on Wednesday, July 7 passed the 2021 Supplementary Appropriation bill of N982,729,695,343. Out of this sum, N123,332,174,164 is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, while N859,397,521,179 is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on December 31, 2021. The 2021 Supplementary Budget seeks to appropriate funds for the procurement and administration of COVID-19 vaccines, procurement of security equipment and additional funds for Public Service Wage adjustment in health and other sectors. It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari transmitted a budget of N895,842,465,917. However, the National Assembly Committees on Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives reviewed the budget upwards. The Committees added a sum of N500million for each chamber of the National Assembly to pursue the on-going Constitution Review exercise. They also appropriated additional funds for capital expenditure on procurement of additional security equipment from N722.40billion to N802.10billion. According to the Committees, the upward review was necessary to address the needs of underfunded security agencies under the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Police Affairs, Ministry of Interior, the Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigeria security and Civil Defence Corps.
N83.56billion earmarked for the COVID-19 programme will be sourced from existing World Bank loans, other grants and the Special Reserve/Levy Accounts, while N722.40billion for capital expenditure on procurement of additional equipment for security agencies and capital supplementation will be sourced from new borrowing.