Senators had no reservations about the basic parameters of the 2024 budget as they unanimously passed the bill for second reading
The Senate, on Friday, passed the N27.5 trillion 2023 budget for second reading.
The passage of the appropriation bill for second reading followed a substantial debate on its general principles which had commenced on Thursday 30th November, 2023.
Recall that the budget was presented to the joint session of the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday 29th November, 2023.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Babangida Hussaini (APC, Jigawa North West) raised the issue of insecurity in the country, tracing it back to lack of unemployment.
According to him, it is a necessity to work on the skills of the unemployed youths and create jobs for them.
“Unemployment is a common problem in this country, we must find jobs for these youths. Sometimes there are jobs but no skills so we should step up yo look into the skills of these youths. We must also step up our legislative functions of oversight,” he said
Similarly, Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) said “There is a saying that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. There is a need for us to create and generate employment which will ease the issues of insecurity in the country,” he said.
On his part, Senator Sadiq Umar (APC, Kwara North) expressed worry over the continuous rise in debt servicing, which according to him, has been a trend since 2015. “The debt servicing is worrisome but we will look forward to how this will be manages. The recurring expenditure is very high as well and the capital expenditure is an increase over that of last year and there has been a gradual increase since 2015”
In his contributions, Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) spoke on the trend of borrowing which according to him will be worthwhile as soon as Nigerians begin to see the developments it is been used for. “The capital expenditure has gone up which is the first in the country. The deficit is also commendable and even the funding that N7.8 billion will be borrowed. Once Nigerians see reason why we are borrowing, it will be worthwhile. What we need to do is give the President the opportunity to give us a renewed hope.”
Other Senators who made contributions were Senators Benson Kombowei (PDP, Bayelsa Central), Ede Dafinone (APC, Delta Central), Jide Ipinsagba (APC, Ondo North), Seriake Dikson (PDP, Bayelsa West), and Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central) amongst others.
Thereafter, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, referred the bill to the Committee on Appropriations for further legislative input.
The committee is expected to report back on the 19th December, 2023.
