In 2023, the Federal Government would spend a total of N3.3 billion to former leaders of the federal government’s departments, ministries, and agencies.
The nation would spend N1 billion on severance compensation for retired heads of parastatals and government agencies, compared to N2.3 billion for former presidents, heads of state, and vice presidents’ payouts.
Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, former military heads of state Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Yakubu Gowon, as well as former vice presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo, will be among the recipients.
This is stated in the National Assembly’s 2023 Appropriations Bill, which increased the overall estimates from the proposed N20,507,942,180,704 to N21,827,188,747,391, a difference of N1,319,246,566,687.
The 2023 budget is the eighth and the last to be presented by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); and the last to be passed by the 9th National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government proposed a total of N470bn for revitalisation of tertiary institutions and upgrade of university lecturers’ salaries.
However, the National Assembly has passed only the N300bn budgeted for the institutions’ revitalisation, leaving out the N170bn proposed for upward salary review for university lecturers.
In his presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 7, 2022, President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) proposed an N470 billion intervention fund to resolve the protracted dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The budget included N10 billion for the reorganisation and recapitalization of the Nigerian Postal Service and N1.92 billion for a “special intervention fund for the construction of a storage facility in Benin to house repatriation antiques.”
The National Judicial Council, which oversees the judicial branch of the Federal Government, has been given a budget of 165,000,000,000, while the National Assembly and its affiliated entities would each spend a total of N194,839,144,401 under statutory transfers.
Though the sum of N169bn was proposed for the federal bi-cameral legislature in the original bill, while the judiciary had a proposed budget of N150bn, N30bn more than it was allocated in 2022.
