N70bn NASS Infrastructure not to be used from N500bn palliatives funds – Kalu
By Tom Okpe
Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep Benjamin Kalu has clarified that the N70 billion National Assembly NASS Infrastructure was not to be drawn from the N500 billion approved as palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal in the country.
Kalu made this known, when he led Principal Officers of the House to journalists on the heels of the passage of a bill, amending the N819 billion, 2022 supplementary budget to extract N500 billion for palliatives.
According to the components of the amended appropriation act, N500 billion was for palliatives and other capital expenditure to cushion the effect of recent subsidy removal policy and N185 billion for Ministry of Works and Housing to alleviate impact of the severe flooding experienced in the country.
Others are N19 billion for Federal Ministry of Agriculture to ameliorate the massive destruction to farmlands across the country during the severe flooding, experienced last year, N35 billion to National Judicial Council, N10 billion to Federal Capital Territory Administration for critical projects and N70 billion to National Assembly.
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The Deputy Speaker further explained that; “What we did today was not just for the palliatives, so that the narrative that will be out there will not be that we passed palliative bill to take care of Judicial Commission and the National Assembly.
“There are various components of that bill; that did not speak about one component. That bill which is about N819 billion was not only for palliatives, so, the breakdown was not only for palliatives, discussion was not only about palliatives.
“It is the National Assembly infrastructure that we are talking about when we mentioned component that has to do with National Assembly for infrastructure.
“The major part of the whole bill passed today were to help Nigerians who, due to the removal of subsidy are feeling the impact,” he stated.
