By The House of Representatives on Wednesday 31st of July has re-enacted the 2024 Appropriation Amendment Bill after rescinding its earlier passage of three bills that had increased the 2024 budget to about N35 billion. The House had summoned an emergency session for Wednesday with two major items on the order paper.
Hon. Francis Waive, chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, moved a motion for the rescission of the House’s Resolution on the Appropriations Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024. He stated that the rescission was pursuant to Order Nine, Rule 1 (6) of the Standing Orders of the House.
Waive explained, “The Appropriations Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed on Tuesday, July 23. During the cleaning of the Bill, the Directorate of Legal Services observed some legal issues that require reconsideration. Clauses 13 and 14 of the Bill, as well as the long title and Explanatory Memorandum, need to be amended to reflect the intent of the Appropriation Act.”
He added, “There is a need to rescind the House decision on the Long Title, Explanatory Memorandum, and Clauses 13 and 14 of the Bill. The House resolves to rescind the decision on these sections and commit them to the Committee of Supply for reconsideration.”
Hon. Babajimi Benson, Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, told The Nation that the amendment to the Appropriation Act would not affect the implementation of the budget. He stated, “The amendment is just crossing the right ‘I’ and dotting the right ‘T,’ and does not in any way affect the figures in the budget.”
Additionally, the House passed an amendment to the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, increasing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s total advances to the Federal Government from five percent to a maximum of ten percent.
