The Nigerian Senate has disclosed the sectoral allocations for the N27.5 trillion budget earmarked for the 2024 fiscal year.
This revelation follows the budget presentation to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, which sparked controversy due to its limited details. During the subsequent budget debate, members of parliament were presented only with the president's speech, lacking the comprehensive budget documents.
This atypical situation raised concerns and prompted calls to suspend the consideration of the budget until a detailed breakdown was made available. Despite these concerns, the budget proposal advanced to the second reading in both chambers without furnishing lawmakers with the detailed allocations.
On Friday night, the Senate Appropriations Committee released key highlights of the budget, shedding light on the allocations for various sectors. Within the N8.7 trillion capital component of the 2024 budget, the ministries of Works, Finance, and Defence received the highest shares.
The Ministry of Works secured N521.3 billion, followed closely by the Ministry of Finance with N519.9 billion, while the Ministry of Defence was allocated N308.2 billion. Additionally, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare was earmarked N304.4 billion, and N265.4 billion was proposed for capital projects in the Ministry of Education.
Other notable allocations include N264.2 billion for the Ministry of Power, N820.9 billion for Government-owned Enterprises, N665 billion for TETFund, N96.9 billion for Housing and Urban Development, N87.7 billion for Water Resources, and N69 billion for Police Affairs.
Under statutory transfers, the National Assembly is allocated N198 billion, the Niger Delta Development Commission receives N324.8 billion, Universal Basic Education is assigned N251.4 billion, the National Judicial Council gets N165 billion, the North East Development Commission is allocated N126 billion, and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund receives N125.7 billion.