President Muhammadu Buhari has submitted the proposals to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.

In his letter which was read at the plenary session of Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, 15 February 2022, President Buhari noted that it became necessary to present an amendment to the 2022 Appropriation Act considering the impact of the recent suspension of the Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidy and some changes made to the 2020 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly which could have an adverse implication for the successful implementation of the Budget.

According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the proposed amendments seeks to:

1. Restore the provisions made for various key capital projects that were cut by the National Assembly in order to ensure that critical on-going projects do not suffer a setback due to reduced funding.
2. Re-instate N25.81Billion removed from the Power Sector Reform Programme in order to meet the Federal Government’s financial commitment made with the World Bank.
3. Re-insert four capital projects totaling the sum of N1.42 Billion for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources which was removed from the 2022 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly.
4. Restore N3 billion which was cut from the provisions made for payment of long outstanding Local Contractors’ Debt and Other Liabilities.
5. Transfer the sum of N16.59 Billion belonging to the National Assembly which was captured under the Service Wide Vote of the Executive.
6. Reinstate the sum of N22.0 Billion cut from the provision of Sinking Fund to Retire Mature Loans.
7. Re-insert the amount reduced from the provisions made for recurrent spending of Nigeria’s Foreign Missions as well as the amount reduced from the allowances payable to personnel of the Nigerian Navy, Police Formations and Command.
8. Remove a total of 139 Capital Projects amounting to N13.24 Billion which were replicated in the 2022 Appropriation Act.
9. Remove non-mandate projects which were introduced by the National Assembly in the Budget of the Ministry of Transportation, the Office of the Secretary of the Government (OSGF), and the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).
10. Restore the titles and descriptions of 32 projects in the 2022 Appropriation Act to the titles which were contained in the Executives Proposal for the Ministry of Water Resources.

In his letter, President Buhari stated that the amendment proposed makes provision for the sum of N106,161,499,052 for Capital Expenditures; N43,870,592,044 for Recurrent Expenditures, and N2.557 Trillion to fund petroleum subsidy in 2022. He also explained that further amendments seek to delete Clauses 10 and 11 of the 2022 Appropriation Act as these provisions are inconsistent with laws establishing these agencies.

 Clause 10 “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) are authorized to charge and defray from all money standing in credit to the units as revenues, penalties or sanctions at 10% for technical setup and operational cost at the units in the financial year” and

Clause 11 “Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law in force, Nigerian Embassies and Missions are authorized to expend funds allocated to them under the Capital Components without having to seek approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”

In the House of Representatives, the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC: Lagos) referred the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Committee on Appropriation. It is expected that the Senate’s referral to the relevant Committee will be done on the next legislative day.