Senate, House Okay Fresh N288bn Supplementary Budget for FCT

•FCTA to refurbish derelict Ministry of Agriculture building for newly created Ministry of Livestock 

•Decries encroachment at Kugbo International Market

Olawale Ajimotokan, Sunday Aborisade and Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The Senate yesterday passed for second reading a fresh N288 billion supplementary budget for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

Likewise, the House of Representatives’ Committee on FCT adopted the bill.

At the Red Chamber, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, presented the bill at plenary.

He stated that the appropriation needed to be passed to accommodate additional inflows from Internally Generated Revenues and other revenues.

He said, “The Bill for an Act to issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration Account the total sum of N288,000,000,000.00 only arising from a need to accommodate additional inflows from Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) and other revenues in the sums of N8,000,000,000.00 only and N280,000,000,000.00 only respectively; and for other related matters, 2024.”

The passage of the budget followed a correspondence from President Bola Tinubu dated September 19, 2024, which was addressed to the National Assembly.

 Tinubu in the letter had stated that the supplementary budget for the FCTA was pursuant to the provision of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The letter read, “I write in accordance with the provisions of Section 121 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to forward herewith an additional supplementary budget proposal for the FCTA for consideration and passage by the House of the Representatives.

“This supplementary budget proposal has been prepared based on the FCTA’s reviewed revenue and expenditure forecasts and is aligned with the fiscal and developmental policies of the federal government and the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“With it, the FCTA continues to prioritise the improvement of human capital and infrastructure within the Federal Capital Territory.”

This fresh supplementary budget comes after the Senate had passed the sum of N98.5 billion Supplementary budget for the FCT in June.

In the same vein, the House of Representatives Committee on FCT also adopted the bill seeking the approval of a N288 billion Supplementary budget for FCTA.

Chairman of House Committee on FCT, Hon. Aliyu Muktar Betara, who spoke during the budget defence meeting with members, explained that the need for accelerated consideration and passage of the Appropriation bill was for the implementation of critical developmental projects across the nation’s capital city.

Betara, while noting most of the projects captured in the Statutory budget observed that the Senate Committee on FCT was also working on the proposed Supplementary budget.

The lawmaker further explained that the Committee was mandated to lay the report on the Supplementary budget at today’s plenary because there are critical projects that needed to start by next week because of the timeframe.

“The consultation affirmed that most of the augmentation requested for in the proposed supplementary budget were captured in the 2024 statutory budget passed by the National Assembly. There are no new projects, the only new projects are just two line items,” he added.

Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said his administration would renovate the abandoned Ministry of Agriculture building near the Bank of Industry in the Central Business District, for the use of the Ministry Livestock, created recently by President Bola Tinubu.

Wike disclosed this yesterday after an inspection of the building.

He said the directive to inspect and immediately refurbish the building  for the new Ministry of Livestock was issued by Tinubu.

Wike, described the creation of the Ministry of Livestock as a welcome development, adding the FCTA would invite companies willing to renovate the building to look at the building and quote for it.

“That is why we went there to see things for ourselves. We are going to get some companies to come and look at it and quote for it, as it is an emergency work. The creation of the Ministry of Livestock is a welcomed development you can see people are happy, waiting for it to start.

“And so now that that particular place has been identified, the President has ordered the FCT Administration, through the FCDA, to look at it and we have seen the integrity test, which is okay, and we will also rehabilitate and furnish it and then you would see the Ministry of Livestock take over,” Wike said.

Speaking on when the ministry would be relocated, Wike said at the end of ongoing emergency work, some companies would be invited to inspect the building, after which they will take the best and most responsive bidder that government can handle.

Also, the minister decried the encroachment of Kugbo International Market land.

He issued the outcry yesterday after inspecting the facility regarded as the biggest in West Africa.

Wike directed the Development Control to immediately demolish any structure that could constitute an impediment to the project particularly the road project.

The minister also asked the market investor, the Managing Director of Mesotho Group Limited, Jerry Joseph Damara, to ensure the funding of the market to enable its completion by January 2025.

“The first phase has been completed, we would therefore see what we can do, to see that we open, the first phase and some of these traders on the road have to come in here, and give the free traffic that we desire,” he added.

He expressed satisfaction with what he saw at the market, saying the FCTA would ensure that people move into the market, as quickly as possible, as the Kugbo Market will create employment for many people and decongest roads.