An emergency session held on Wednesday saw the House of Representatives repealing and enacting the Appropriation Act of 2024, totaling N35.06tn. This move aimed to address any possible legal gaps present in the current law.
Within the N35.06tn total, N1.74tn is designated for statutory transfers, N8.27tn for debt servicing, N11.26tn for recurrent (non-debt) expenses, and N13.77tn for contributions to the development fund for capital projects.
The House deliberated and approved a “Bill for an Act” during the session to authorize the issuance of the total sum from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
Prior to this, the House reversed its decision on the long title, explanatory memorandum, and clauses 13 and 14 of the previous week’s Appropriation Bill. These aspects were referred back to the Committee of Supply for reassessment.
This step was taken following a motion proposed by Mr. Francis Waive, the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business.
When presenting the motion, Waive, who represents Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency in Delta State, highlighted that the Appropriations Act (Amendment) Bill of 2024 had been passed earlier and required further scrutiny.
He pointed out that the Directorate of Legal Services identified certain legal gaps in clauses 13 and 14 of the bill, as well as in the long title and explanatory memorandum, necessitating amendments to align with the original intent of the Appropriation Act.