By Femi Ogunshola
Rep. Abubakar Bichi, the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, says President Bola Tinubu’s supplementary appropriation bill is strategically structured to address the country’s security concerns, bolster food security, and enhance critical road infrastructure.
Bitchi said this when the ministers of works, defence, agriculture and food security, alongside service chiefs and INEC chairman,appeared before the committee to defend the budget in Abuja.
He said the budget would also tackle the housing deficit, including slum upgrades and urban renewal.
He said the proposals also included provisions for the payment of provisional wages to workers and cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians.
He said the bill also allocated resources for upcoming off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo States.
NAN recalls that the House of Representatives, on Oct. 31, received a N2.18 trillion supplementary appropriation bill focused on security and critical sectors.
The bill, according to President Tinubu, is aimed at improving various critical sectors.
Those who appeared before the committee to defend their budget included the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi and Abubakar Kyari, the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security.
Others were the service chiefs, the Nigeria Police, and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), among others.
Umahi, while speaking, said N18.6 billion was required to build a perfect road network across the federation, adding that most Nigerian roads were in a deplorable situation.
According to him, “I recently traveled to Edo State by road, and it took me 14 hours to get to Benin because of the deplorable state of our roads in the country.” (NAN)
