The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday approved N2,176,791,286,033 (2.7tr) supplementary budget to fund urgent national issues including N605 billion for national defence and security.
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, disclosed this while briefing correspondents after the council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa in Abuja.
He explained that out of the proposed amount, N605 billion would be expended on national defence and security, while about N300 billion would be spent on maintenance of bridges.
Bagudu also disclosed that N210 billion would go for the payment of wage awards to civil servants and N400 billion for cash transfer to vulnerable households.
The Minister also announced that N100 billion provision was made in the budget proposals as infrastructure support for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and another N800 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the off season governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
Another provision of N8 billion was included in the supplementary budget for the take-off of the newly created ministries such as the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Bagudu further said that the Supplementary spending would be based on improved earnings of the government.
However, he added that any borrowing to fund the budget where necessary would exclude ways and means.
Bagudu stated: “The council considered a request for supplementary appropriation which is a second for 2023 and has graciously approve the sum of N2,176,791,286,033 as supplementary budget and this supplementary budget is to fund urgent issues including N605 billion for national defense and security.
“This is to sustain the gains made in security and to accelerate. And these are funds that are needed by the security agencies before the year runs out.
“Equally, the sum of N 300 Billion was provided to repair bridges including Eko and Third Mainland bridges as well as construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of many roads nationwide before the return of the rainy season.
Equally, the sum of N200 Billion was provisioned for seed, agricultural input, supplies and agricultural implements and infrastructure in order to support expansion of production.
“Equally, the sum of N210billion is provided for the payment of wage awards. In negotiation with the Nigeria Labour Congress, the federal government agreed to pay N35, 000 each to about 1.5 million employees of the federal government and that amounts from September, October, November and December 2023 to about N210billion which has been approved and also N400billion as cash transfer payments.
“You may recall that the federal government secured an $800million loan from the World Bank to pay cash transfers of N25,000 to 15 million households. The $800 million is for two months, October and November.
“The President graciously approved that an additional month should be funded by the federal government and that is what this N100 Billion is for.
“Equally, N100 Billion has been provided for the Federal Capital Territory in order to support them in urgent and immediate capital expenditure works that can enhance the infrastructure in the city.
Equally, N18 Billion was provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission to support them in the conduct in the Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo elections.
“Some N5.5billion was provided for the funding of the takeover of the Student Loan Board as well as N8 Billion for the take-off grant of new ministries.
“Equally, a sum of N200 Billion was provided as capital supplementation to deal with urgent requests that have been made to Mr. President from various parts of the country.”
The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, revealed that the Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) and GeoScan GmbH of Berlin, Germany, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on solid mineral development.
He said this in his remarks at the post-FEC media briefing that the agreement was formalized on Sunday during the visit of German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz to Abuja, Nigeria.
Alake said the MoU is expected to advance solid minerals exploration, exploitation, and judicious use of the revenue accruing to the federal government.
The Ministernoted that GeoScan GmBH possesses cutting-edge technology capable of exploring mineral deposits up to 10,000 meters below the surface, which is a remarkable advancement in the field of mineral exploration.
According to him, the cost-effectiveness of the proprietary technology is 80% cheaper than current exploration processes and three times faster in locating underground deposits.
The minister explained: ”The gathering of geodata is very expensive. Now this particular technology, which is top notch, is 80% cheaper than current processes in the world, three times faster to locate deposits down underground.”
He noted that MoU with GeoScan GmbH presents a significant opportunity for the country given the fact that Nigeria’s vast and unexplored mineral landscape, estimated to be worth around $700 billion.
Alake further said: ”We constitute about 0.02% of the global mining budget. With the $700 billion estimation of our solid minerals deposit, we still have over 90% of the entire landscape of Nigeria unexplored.
”And because it’s an expensive business, that underscores the significance of a landmark that we recorded yesterday with the GeoScan GmbH supported also by the German chancellor and our President.
”I’m happy to tell you that there’s no kobo commitment on the part of Nigeria. The company will establish its technology and plant here and move around the country to enable us to further explore all the other mineral deposits that we have.”
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, announced that the council approved a contract worth N6 billion for the construction of some access roads in preparation for the planned light rail project
