Buhari requests Senate’s approval for N276.8bn virement to fund 2021 budget

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday requested the Senate’s approval for the virement of N276.7 billion to fund expenditures in the 2021 budget.

In a letter addressed to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and read at the plenary, Buhari said the sum would be sourced from the N365 billion Service Wide Vote for Upscaling of National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

The letter read: “The Senate may wish to recall that I signed the 2021 Appropriation on December 31, 2020, for a total expenditure of N13.588 trillion and a Supplementary Appropriation to cater for critical needs for the Security and Health Sector in the sum of N983 billion on July 26.

“You may also recall that during the signing of the 2021 Appropriation Act, I mentioned that, where necessary, I will revert to the National Assembly with a request for amendment, virement or other appropriate adjustments to ensure that the core objectives of the Budget are accomplished.

“Accordingly, the 2021 Budget implementation is faced with challenges that will require additional funding for some critical and urgent line items in the Budget.

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to forward the comprehensive Virement Proposal for the consideration and approval of the National Assembly.

“The details of the expenditures proposed for the virement are attached herewith as schedule 1 while Schedule 2 shows the sources of the funds to be vired for the items in Schedule 1.

“In the light of the above, I implore the Senate to urgently consider the virement proposals to support our efforts to improve the well-being of our citizens.”

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt to borrow from int’l debt market to fund 2021 budget deficit

A breakdown of the request detailed by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning showed that N199, 129, 053, 400 was for payment of local contractors’ debts, public service wage adjustment for Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), Special Development Goals (SDGs) Projects 3 and Group Life Assurance for all MDAs.

In addition, N4, 500, 821, 569 is for the Federal Ministry of Education, N2, 335, 167, 265 for Nigeria Air Force, N4, 617, 811, 857 for the Ministry of Defence, N25 billion for the National Assembly in settling minimum wage arrears of National Assembly Staff and Intervention to settle outstanding liabilities owed local contractors.

Others are N20, 038, 920, 773 for Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), N762, 678, 972 for Nigeria Correctional Services, N592 million for Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) as financial assistance for the execution of 2021 End of Year Special Patrol Operation.

Also, the sum of N19, 780, 778, 558 was earmarked for Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now