In a bid to stop the practice of running multiple budgets concurrently, President Bola Tinubu has transmitted the Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024 to the Senate for its authorisation for the issuance of N43,561,041,744,507 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the year ending December 31, 2025.

This is contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and read during plenary on Wednesday.

“The purpose of the bill is to stop the practice of running multiple budgets concurrently and to provide a transparent mechanism for the orderly consolidation of budgets,” the President stated.

According to him, the sum comprises N1 trillion for statutory transfers, N8.2 trillion for debt service, N11.2 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure, and N22.2 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contribution.

Tinubu said the bill was designed to end the practice of running multiple budgets while ensuring high capital performance rates for both the 2024 and 2025 capital budgets.

He noted that the proposal provides a transparent and constitutionally grounded appropriation mechanism for the orderly consolidation of critical and time-sensitive expenditures undertaken in response to emergency exigencies.

The President said the bill would advance the collective well-being of Nigerians, safeguard national security, and reinforce fiscal discipline, accountability, and broader public financial management.

He added that the proposal strengthens implementation discipline and accountability by ensuring that appropriated funds are released and applied strictly for the purposes specified in the schedules.

Tinubu further explained that the bill provides that virement may only be effected with the prior approval of the National Assembly, outlines conditions for corrigenda where genuine errors may hinder implementation, and mandates the separate recording of excess revenue, limiting its expenditure to an Act or approval of the National Assembly.

He said the bill also mandates due process compliance and periodic reporting on fund releases, as well as agency revenues and assistance.

Tinubu therefore urged the Senate to consider and pass the bill expeditiously.

The Senate President consequently referred the letter to the secretariat of the upper legislative chamber for the needful.