The Nigerian Senate has extended the implementation year of the 2021 Appropriation Act from March 31 to May 31, 2022.
The extension was approved following the consideration of a bill to amend the 2021 Appropriation Act, which the Legislators expeditiously introduced and passed the bill.
The bill was read on Tuesday for the first, second and third time after the suspension of Rule 78(1).
Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, led debate on the bill and recalled that Appropriation Acts in the past were passed mid-year, with their implementation usually extended to the following year.
He however, observed that Clause 12 of the provisions of Section 318 of the Constitution provides that the 12-month period of budget year starts from the 1st day of January to 31st day of December, 2021.
Abdullahi said that the 2022 Appropriation Act was first amended to extend the implementation year from December 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
According to him, the extension of the budget period became imperative in view of the need to complete ongoing projects nearing completion.
Abdullahi said; “As you are aware, the 2021 virement of the aggregate sum of N276 billion was approved for several MDAs by the National Assembly in December 2021 along with 100 percent release of the 2021 Capital Budget of the MDAs.
“A significant portion of the releases to the MDAs has been utilized following the extension to 31st March, 2022.
“In view of the critical importance of some key projects nearing completion, it is expedient to grant further extension of the expiration clause to avoid compounding the problem of abandoned projects given that some of the projects were not provided for in the 2022 budget hence the need to extend the implementation year from 31 March, to 31st May, 2022.”
Bills for Second Reading
Meanwhile, a total of three bills on Tuesday scaled second reading on the floor. The bills seek to establish the National Industrial Technology Park; the Federal College of Agriculture Ise-Orin, Ekiti State; and Federal University of Agriculture Ogoja, Cross River State.
The bills were sponsored by Senators Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun Central), Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) and Agom Jarigbe (Cross River North).
The bills after consideration were referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Trade and Investment; and the Joint Committees on Tertiary Institutions and Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Committees were all given four weeks to report back to the senate in plenary.
VON