Chukwu David 
The Senate yesterday passed the 2022 supplementary budget of N819.5 billion requested by President Muhammadu Buhari last week. It also approved the extension of the implementation of the 2022 capital projects from December 31, 2022 to March 31, 2023. In his letter to Senate President Ahmad Lawn, Buhari explained that the supplementary budget was to fix the critical infrastructure destroyed by floods. According to him, the money is meant for the capital expenditure component of the 2022 budget with an attendant increase of deficit to N8.17 trillion. Buhari pointed out that the supplementary budget would be financed by additional domestic borrowings.
Presenting the report of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Chairman Jibrin Barau noted that the supplementary budget was for the Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources, FCT and Works. Barau explained that the breakdown of the supplementary budget as passed by the Senate indicated that N69 billion was for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; N704 billion for Works and Housing; N15.5 billion for Water Resources while N30 billion was earmarked for FCT, to address critical infrastructure destroyed by floods.
In line with provisions of Clause 12 of the Appropriation Act and Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution stipulating 12 calendar months for the implementation of the national budget in any fiscal year, supposed to end on December 31, 2022, having started on January 1, 2022.
