The Presidency said the decision of the National Assembly to extend the lifespan of the capital section of the 2023 Budget and 2023 Supplementary Budget was aimed at the full implementation of the budget.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated this position on Friday.

It was in reaction to the position of BudgIT, a leading civic-tech organisation promoting transparency, accountability and effective service delivery in Nigeria.

BudgIT had criticised the decision of the Senate to extend the life span of the budget, making it the third national budget running concurrently in the country.

Onanuga said: “There’s really no issue here. 

“The National Assembly has already explained its reason for this. 

“There are many projects in the 2023 Budget and the (2023) Supplementary Budget that have not been executed. 

“The idea is to achieve the implementation of such projects in the previous budgets.

“For instance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has some allocation in the 2023 Budget and the Supplementary Budget, which, as we’re talking.

“They have not been given the cash backing to embark on the projects, automatically they have to take such projects forward to be implemented. 

“Apparently, they weren’t able to implement it because they didn’t have the funds.

“One also knows that a lot of projects, in terms of capital budget, were not done last year so they needed to carry them forward before they can be done. 

“That’s just basically the idea.”