President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the House of Representatives requesting for permission of the virement of funds appropriated for special intervention to finance some critical recurrent and capital items. In the letter read by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara(APC: Bauchi) at the plenary session of Tuesday, 25th October 2016, the President highlighted the total recurrent expenditure as N166,630, 886,954 and the capital expenditure as N14, 208, 367,476. The request was due to the shortfalls in provisions for personnel costs, inadequate provision for some items like the amnesty programme, the continuing requirement to sustain the war against insurgency and the depreciation of the Naira.

The President also based his request on grounds that the anticipated budgeted revenuehad fallen below projections due to renewed violence in the Niger Delta and the non-availability of supplementary revenue sources. The letter also disclosed that during the course of implementing the 2016 Appropriation Act, a lot of pertinent issues were presented by Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) which he hoped to address through the virement of funds in the following critical expenditure items:

Recurrent:

1. Service Wide Vote: Public Service Wage Adjustment (PSWA)- 71,800,215,270
2. Service Wide Vote: Contingency- N1,200,000,000

• Service Wide Vote: Margin for Increase in Cost(MIC)- N2,000,000,000

1. Ministry of Interior: Cadet Feeding-Police Academy, Wudil, Kano- N932,400,000
2. Service Wide Vote: Amnesty Programme- N35,000,000,000
3. Service Wide Vote: Internal Operations of the Armed Forces- N5,205,930,270

• Service Wide Vote: Operation Lafiya Dole- N13,933,093,000
• Ministry of Youth and Sports Development: NYSC- N19,792,018,400

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Missions- N14,667,230,014
2. Federal Ministry of Education: Augmentation of Meal Subsidy/Direct Teaching and Lab Cost- N900,000,000

Sub Total- N165,430,886.954

Statutory Transfer:

1. Statutory Transfer: Public Complaint Commission(Salary Shortfall)- N1, 200,000,000

Sub Total- N1,200,000,00

Capital:

1. Ministry of Defence: Nigerian Air Force(NAF)- N12,708,367,476
2. Capital Supplementation: Presidential Initiative for the North East(PINE)- N1,500,000,000

Sub Total- N14,208,367,476

Grand Total- N180,839,254,430

In addition to his request, the President informed the House of Representatives that the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing have also requested for virement of the sum of N300million for the Construction of 132KVA Substation at Gwaram, Jigawa State, and the Reconstruction of Fallen Transmission Towers, Replacement of Glass Insulators e.t.c which has an Appropriation of N4,880,000,000. However, the statement was made in anticipation of a future virement as the sum is excluded from the requested N180,839,254,430.

Lastly, lawmakers were urged to approve his request, as it would ensure that the Federal Government lived up to its expectation of improving the living standard of its citizens.

A similar request has also been tabled before the Senate.