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Buhari presents record N20.5trn 2023 budget to N/Assembly

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2022

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President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, presented a record N20.51 trillion 2023 appropriation bill to the national assembly.

The president made the presentation to the joint session of the national assembly at the temporary chamber of the house of representatives.

The national assembly had approved the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) — parameters on which the 2023 budget will be framed.

While presenting the details, Buhari said the 2023 transition budget was designed to address critical issues and lay a solid foundation for the incoming administration.

He said that based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions, the revenue generation should hit about N16.87 trillion.

The budget is christened ‘Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Transition’.

A breakdown of the budget shows that N744.11 billion was earmarked for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for non-debt recurrent costs, N1.1 trillion for overhead costs, and N5.35 trillion for capital expenditure.

“We expect the total fiscal operations of the federal government to result in a deficit of N10.78 trillion,” Buhari said.

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“This represents 4.78 percent of estimated GDP, slightly above the 3 percent threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

“As envisaged by the law, we need to exceed this threshold considering the need to continue to tackle the existential security challenges facing the country.”

The president explained that the budget deficit will be financed mainly through borrowings.

He said this would include new borrowings totalling N8.80 trillion, N206.18 billion from privatisation proceeds and N1.77 trillion drawdowns on bilateral/multilateral loans secured for specific development projects/programmes.

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UPDATED: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

6 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

Ngelale said Tinubu believes that Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience to ensure that no Nigerian student suffers a paucity of funds in the quest for tertiary education.

On April 3, Tinubu signed the student loans amendment bill into law to provide Nigerians with quality and accessible education.

The law will allow Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access low-interest loans for tuition and other academic needs.

Subsequently, the president appointed Akintunde Sawyerr as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the fund.

Tinubu also appointed Frederick Oluwafemi Akinfala as the executive director of finance and administration, while Mustapha Iyal will serve as the executive director of operations of NELFUND.

READ Buhari appoints Yahaya as new COAS

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JUST IN: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

8 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

More to follow…

READ Buhari signs N982bn supplementary budget into law

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ICPC detains TETFund boss ‘over questionable N7.6bn project’

Published

12 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has detained Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Demola Bakare, ICPC spokesperson, confirmed the development on Friday.

Bakare said that Echono was invited by the anti-graft agency on Thursday.

“The executive secretary of TETFund is here with us. He has been invited for questioning. He is still in custody. He was invited yesterday.” Bakare said.

“He was invited on Thursday. He has not been released. He’s still with us. Investigation is still ongoing.”

It was earlier reported that TETfund awarded two contracts to Fides Et Ratio Academy and Pole Global Marketing (PGM) within two months at the cost of N3.8 billion respectively without the approval of the federal executive council (FEC), which is required for the contract size.

The contract was to provide capacity building course and learning management systems to about 2 million students across higher institutions in the country.

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In a rejoinder, TETFund said it did not award N7.6 billion contracts to two companies without due process.

The agency said it was wrong to say they were contracts, whereas they were ICT projects implemented under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which doesn’t require competitive bidding in public procurement.

TETFund further said its disbursement guidelines were approved by the president on the recommendation of the “Fund’s Board of Trustees and concurrence of the Honourable Minister of Education in line with the TETFund Act 2011″.

In an interview with TheCable, Echono said there was no form of irregularity in the N7.6 billion project.