FEC approves N895bn draft supplementary 2021 budget

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a draft supplementary budget of 895 billion naira for the year 2021.

Finance Minister Dr Zainab Ahmed revealed this when she briefed State House correspondents on the results of the Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ahmed said the next step would be to present a draft law to this effect to the National Assembly for approval, in accordance with constitutional provisions.

She said: “Today the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning presented to council a proposal to seek approval of the Federal Government of Nigeria 2021 Supplementary Budget Proposal.

Ahmed added that the approval was based on the need for funding to ensure Nigeria is able to meet its commitment under Nigeria’s Comprehensive AIDS Program.

It was also based on the urgent need to specifically strengthen the capacity of military and paramilitary agencies to address the various security challenges in the country.

“The council approved on this note the supplementary appropriation bill of 2021, for a total expenditure of 895,842,462,917 N.

“The total of this expenditure is made up of 83.56 billion naira for the COVID-19 vaccination program, covering 30 billion vaccines from the Johnson and Johnson vaccines and the logistics costs associated with the deployment of this vaccine.

“It also contains the sum of 1.69 billion naira for the comprehensive Nigerian AIDS program currently in effect in the states and an additional contingency allowance of 40 billion naira as part of the wage adjustments across the board. civil service to meet the needs for education sector allocations and other salary-related issues.

“This is an additional provision to the 100 billion naira already provided for in the 2021 budget.

“The council also approved a global sum of N770.60 billion to further strengthen the capacity of defense and security agencies to address current and emerging security challenges in our country. “

The minister said the board also approved the drawdown on some existing World Bank loans totaling around 39.58 billion naira as part of the supplementary budget funding source.

“We will work with the World Bank to restructure some of the existing facilities to achieve this 39.58 billion naira.

“We have also received approval to withdraw 135 billion naira from certain special reserve lobbying accounts to partially fund this additional budget but specifically related to the COVID-19 vaccine, salaries and other health-related expenses. as well as the recurring component of defense and security spending, “she said.

Ahmed said the approval also contained the authorization to borrow 722.53 billion naira for security spending, which will come from the domestic international capital market.

Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Adeniyi Adebayo told correspondents he presented the president with the first Nigerian-made cell phone, ahead of the start of Wednesday’s FEC meeting.

According to Adebayo, the phone is one of 12 mobile phones produced, using local components, by the Electrical / Electronic Technology Department of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Model Skills Training Center. (NOPE)