President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday signed the N28.78 trillion 2024 Budget into law at the State House, Abuja. The president, who arrived at his office from the airport at exactly 2 pm, headed straight for the brief budget signing ceremony, surrounded by senior government officials. Speaking at the signing of the bill, Tinubu expressed joy with the N100bn approved for school feeding nationwide. He stated that the provision would serve as a stimulant to encourage school attendance and reduce the problem of out-of-school children. “One of the priority areas of the bill we just passed is the N100 billion provision for feeding school children. I believe that is a stimulant that will encourage enrollment and address malnutrition among school children. “I will be meeting with local governments at sub-national levels so that we can collaborate and jointly implement an all-inclusive programme,” he said. Other priority areas include defence and internal security, job creation, macroeconomic stability, improved investment environment, human capital development, poverty reduction, and social security.
President Tinubu recalled that, “When I presented the budget on November 29, 2023, I presented N27.5 trillion and I called for expeditious treatment of the budget, the review, the passing, the debate and all that.
“Today (Monday) we have a budget of N28.7 trillion with an increase of N1.2 trillion over the proposal that I submitted. I thank the National Assembly for this prompt review adjustment and auditing necessary. This is evidence and a great testament to the excellent relationship between the executive and the legislature. We should keep it up.
The National Assembly had raised its 2024 budgetary allocation by 74.23 per cent to N344.85bn.
This will be the highest-ever budgetary allocation to the National Assembly whose initial allocation in the 2024 budget proposal was pegged at N197.93bn.
The increase in allocation to the Senate and House of Representatives is happening amidst a cost-of-living crisis in the country. The consistent rise in the cost of funding the arms of government and agencies is despite a declining macroeconomic environment and reduced government revenues.
While presenting the details of the 2024 budget recently, the Minister of Finance and Budget Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, disclosed that the government was bothered about its declining revenues.
“This Prevailing global environment is characterised by slowing global growth; persistent inflationary pressures prompting monetary tightening with the inherent negative impact on capital inflow to emerging markets economies.
“Also constrained investment spending; supply-chain disruptions; and rising geo-political tensions, including the Russia and Ukraine war have severely affected global food and energy prices,” Bagudu declared.
Bagudu however said the president had directed for increased private sector involvement in infrastructure provision.
He also revealed that all ministries have been given matching orders to woo willing domestic and foreign investors to improve the nation’s infrastructure.
President Tinubu assured Nigerians that the budget’s implementation would be efficiently pursued and vigorously monitored, saying, “All the institutional mechanisms shall be held to account in ensuring diligent implementation.”
