The Senate has provided reasons for the speedy passage of the 2023 supplementary budget presented by President Bola Tinubu about 48-hours after submission.
Politics Nigeria reports that the budget was submitted to the National Assembly by President Tinubu on Tuesday.
The National Assembly adjusted its rules to ensure that the bill was passed for both first and second readings on same day.
It was referred to the committees on appropriation in the two chambers who worked on it on Wednesday and presented their reports on Thursday.
The reports were deliberated upon and approved on Thursday.
The vice chairman, Senate committee on appropriation, Senator Ali Ndume, noted the National Assembly accelerated the budget passage because of certain national interest bordering on a new minimum wage.
“The increase in prices of fuel, costs of essential services and food items have gone up in the country following the withdrawal of fuel subsidy,” Ndume said.
“Workers embarked on strike many times as a result of this and there were negotiations between the organised labour unions and the federal government. At the end of the negotiations, the labour and the federal government agreed that workers would be paid N35,000 in addition to their minimum wage.
“If N35,000 is paid to each of the over 1.5 million workers, the amount is huge. The money was captured in the supplementary budget,” he added.
