By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Federal Government has approved a N2.18tn supplementary budget to cover welfare packages including wage awards and conditional cash transfers agreed with the Organised Labour.
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The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu who unveiled the details in Abuja after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday, added that the budget is to fund urgent issues including national defence and security.
Bagudu said from the amount, N605bn was for national defence and security to sustain the gains made in security while the sum of N300bn 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.
He also disclosed that the sum of N210bn was provided for the payment of wage awards, while N400bn was budgeted as cash transfer payments.
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.
Bagudu added, “You may recall that the Federal Government secured a $800m loan from the World Bank to pay cash transfers of N25,000 to 15 million households.
“The $800m 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 N100bn is for.”
The council also approved N200bn for seed, agricultural input, supplies and agricultural implements and infrastructure to support the expansion of production while N100bn was okayed for the Federal Capital Territory for urgent and immediate capital expenditure infrastructure works. READ ALSO:
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Similarly , N18bn was provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of the Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo elections; N5.5bn for the funding of the take-off of the student loans board which begins loan disbursement in January 2024.
The supplementary budget also includes N8bn for the take-off grant of new ministries, and N200bn for capital supplementation to deal with urgent requests made to the President from various parts of the country.