Senate Approves N4trn For Fuel Subsidy, Police, Others Receive More Allocations
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As a measure to prevent fuel scarcity across Nigeria, the Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to increase fuel subsidy payments in 2022 from N442.72 billion to N4 trillion.
Aside from that, the Senate has also increased the oil price benchmark from $62 per barrel to $73, following the Russian army’s invasion of Ukrainian territory earlier in the year.
After increasing the oil benchmark, the lawmakers further approved a complete reduction of the projected oil production volume from 1.883 million to 1.6 million barrels per day.
The legislators made the approval on Thursday after considering the report of the Committee on Finance which revised the 2022 Fiscal Framework.
Other recommendations of the committee adopted by the Senate during the plenary include a cut in the provision for Federally Funded upstream projects being implemented by N200 billion from N352.80 and an increase in the Federal Government Independent Revenue of N400 billion.
The Senate also approved an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater to the needs of the Nigeria Police Force, particularly for the provision of ammunitions and welfare.
The senate president, Ahmad Lawan, after approving the funds, commended the committee for their hard work to ensure passage of the 2022 Appropriation Act.
According to him, the entire country is waiting for this Bill to be passed because this is the only way the government will provide services to the people of this country.
“We expect compliance with this Act when it is signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. Ministries, Departments, and Agencies should only carry out expenditures that have been approved in the Budget.”
Approval of the committee’s findings came after President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to the lawmakers requesting that the 2022 fiscal framework be reviewed due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“As you are aware, there have been new developments both in the global economy as well as in the domestic economy which have necessitated the revision of the 2022 Fiscal Framework on which the 2022 Budget was based,” the President said.
“These developments include spikes in the market price of crude oil, aggravated by the Russian-Ukraine war, significantly lower oil production volume due principally to production shut-ins as a result of massive theft of crude oil between the production platforms and the terminals.
“The decision to suspend the removal of Petroleum Motor Spirit subsidy at a time when high crude oil prices have elevated the subsidy cost and has significantly eroded government revenues.”
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