Reps Okay FCT N98.5bn Supplementary Capital Budget

House of Representatives has passed the 2024 N98.5 billion supplementary Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) bill.

This followed the consideration, adoption, and passage of the Committee on FCT’s report, trailed by the bill’s third reading at plenary.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently presented the supplementary appropriation bill to the National Assembly for consideration, saying the money was meant to support critical infrastructure.

Of the N98.5 billion budget, N48.5 billion is for the Federal Capital Development Authority’s engineering services, N18 billion is allocated to the Education Secretariat, and N16 billion goes to the Public Building and Department of Transportation.

The chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Hon. Aliyu Mukhtar Betara (APC, Borno), presented the committee’s report to the House for consideration.

He prayed the House to “consider the Report of the Committee on Federal Capital Territory on a Bill for an Act to Authorise the issue from the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund of the Federal Capital Territory Administration account, the total sum of N98.5 billion for capital projects; for the service of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for the Financial Year Ending December 31, 2024.”

Betara said the committee scrutinised the president’s presentation and concluded that the money was needed to develop specific federal capital infrastructure.

On the release of funds, it states that “all amount appropriated under this bill shall be made from the Federal Capital Territory Administration Statutory Revenue Fund only for the purposes specified in the schedule to this Bill.

“All revenues accruing to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, including the Statutory Revenue distribution, shall be paid into the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Statutory Revenue Account.

“No money shall be withdrawn from the account mentioned in Section 3(1) above without appropriation by the National Assembly.”

It grants the minister a waiver, saying, “Where, due to revenue shortfall, amounts appropriated under this Bill cannot be funded, the minister of Federal Capital Territory shall seek from the National Assembly a waiver not to incur such expenditure.”