2022 budget: Buhari seeks additional N2.557trn for fuel subsidy

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday sought amendment to the 2022 Appropriation Bill passed in December last year by the National Assembly.

Specifically, the President proposed N2.557trillion as additional fund for fuel subsidy in the 2022 fiscal year.

This was even as he lashed at the federal lawmakers for inserting N887.99billion worth of projects into the N17.126trillion 2022 budget.

He consequently ordered them to remove the inserted projects for usage of the N887.99billion as originally proposed.

Buhari, who made the request through separate letters written to the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila,

The President in the letter read during plenary in Senate, also accused the federal lawmakers of making unnecessary incursions into operational areas of the executive by inserting N16.5billion into service wide votes component of the Executive.

The letter reads in part: “As I indicated at the signing of the 2022 Appropriation Act, I forward herewith the Proposals for amendment of the 2022 Appropriation Act (as detailed in Schedules I-V), for the kind consideration and approval by the Senate.

“You will agree with me that the inclusion of National Assembly’s expenditures in the Executive budget negates the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the Legislature. It is therefore necessary to transfer the National Assembly’s expenditures totaling N16.59 billion in the Service Wide Vote to National Assembly Statutory Transfer provision (see Schedule l).

“I urge you to roll back some of the N887.99 billion of projects earlier inserted in the budget by the National Assembly to accommodate these amendments.

“It is equally important to reinstate the N25.81 billion cut from the provision for the Power Sector Reform Programme in order to meet the federal government’s commitment under the financing plan agreed with the World Bank.

“In addition, it is necessary to reinstate the four (4) capital projects totaling N1.42 billion in the Executive proposal for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources that were removed in the 2022 Appropriation Act.

The Appropriation Amendment request is for a total sum of N106,161,499,052 (One hundred and six billion, one hundred and sixty-one million, four hundred and ninety-nine thousand, and fifty-two Naira only) for capital expenditures and N43,870,592,044 (Forty-three billion, eight hundred and seventy million, five hundred and ninety-two thousand, and forty-four Naira only) for recurrent expenditures. I therefore request the National Assembly to make the above amendments without increasing the budget deficit.

“However, following the suspension of the PMS subsidy removal, the 2022 Budget Framework has been revised to fully provide for PMS subsidy (see Schedule V).

“An additional provision of N2.557 trillion will be required to fund the petrol subsidy in 2022. Consequently, the Federation ACCOunt (Main Pool) revenue for the three tiers of government is projected to decline by N2.00 trillion, while FGN’s share from the Account is projected to reduce by N1.05 trillion. Therefore, the amount available to fund the FGN Budget is projected to decline by N969.09 billion.

“Aggregate expenditure is projected to increase by N45.85 billion, due to additional domestic debt service provision of N102.5 billion net of the reductions in Statutory Transfers by N56.67 billion, as follows: NDDC, by N12.61 billion from N102.78 billion to N90.18 billion; NEDC, by N5.90 bilion from N48.08 billion to N42.18 billion; UBEC, by N19.08 billion from N112.29 billion to N93.21 billion; Basic Health Care Fund, N9.54 billion from N56.14 billion to N46.60 billion; and NASENI, by N9.54 billion from N56.14 billion to N46.60 billion.

“Total budget deficit is projected to increase by N1.01 trillion to N7.40 trillion, representing 4.01% of GDP. The incremental deficit will be financed by new borrowings from the domestic market.

“Furthermore, there is critical and urgent need to restore the N3billion cut from the provision made for payment of mostly long outstanding local contractors’ debts and other liabilities as part of our strategy to reflate the economy and spur growth (see Schedule I).

“It is also imperative to reinstate the N22.0 billion cut from the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Mature Loans to ensure that government can meet its obligations under already issued bonds as and when they mature.

“The cuts made from provisions for the recurrent spending of Nigeria’s Foreign Missions, which are already constrained, are capable of causing serious embarrassment to the country as they mostly relate to office and residential rentals.

“Similarly, the reductions in provisions for allowances payable to personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Police Formations and Commands could create serious issues for government. It is therefore imperative that these provisions be restored as proposed (see Schedule II).

“It is also absolutely necessary to remove all capital project replicated in the 2022 Appropriation Act; 139 out of the 254 such projects totaling N13.24 billion have been identified to be deleted from the budget”.