The lawmakers approved President Tinubu's request after a 30-minute closed-door session that followed the rowdy plenary session earlier in the day.

The House of Representatives has once again extended the capital component of the 2023 Appropriation Act and the Supplementary Appropriation Act until 31 December after a closed-door session amid opposition from a section of the House.

The request by President Bola Tinubu was sent to the House on Thursday during an emergency session held by the House.

In the letter read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen on the floor of the House, the president stated that the extension is to enable the government to fully implement the two budgets.

The request involves extending the lives of the N21.8 trillion 2023 budget and the N2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget.

The N27.5 trillion 2024 budget is also running concurrently with them.

The debate and rowdy session

House Leader Julius Ihonvbere moved a motion to suspend the relevant sections of its rules to allow the bill to be given expeditious readings.

The Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, seconded the motion.

Leading the debate on the bill, Mr Ihonvbere described the request by the president as a straightforward request, noting that the bill is not seeking to change the content of the Acts but to extend their lifespans.

Speaking against the bills, Mr Chinda said the National Assembly has, in the past four years, worked to maintain a January-December budget cycle but that the request by the president has the potential of derailing the cycle.

He said the extension would mean the country running three budgets concurrently, in addition to the 2024 supplementary budgets the president is expected to send to the National Assembly soon.

Mr Chinda added that the extension may be legal but not moral.

"Let me say that there are things that are legal but morally not correct. We are aware of the importance of the implementation of capital projects, and we know what capital projects can do in the lives of our people.

"But the application for extension of the 2023 Appropriation Act is also coming with the request to extend the life of the 2023 supplementary budget. We are also expecting the 2024 supplementary budget. A situation where we may have four budgets running concurrently is a bit of a problem," Mr Chinda said.

Speaking further, he said the Leader of the House should step down the request, while the capital projects in the bill should be transferred to the yet-to-be-proposed 2024 Supplementary Appropriation Bill.

"I will suggest that the House leader (Ihonvbere) step this bill down. Meanwhile, the projects that were not completed in the 2023 budgets can be transferred to the 2024 supplementary budget," he said.

Mr Chinda's speech was greeted with loud applause from members.

Speaking in support of the request, Sada Soli (APC, Katsina) argued that there is nothing illegal in the request, stating that the PDP lawmakers are playing to the gallery.

However, when the former Majority Leader, Ado Doguwa (APC, Kano), spoke against the bills, it became obvious that the division over the bills was not limited to the opposition lawmakers.

Mr Doguwa, a self-confessed ally of Mr Tinubu, said the request is inappropriate and reiterated the argument that it fails the moral test.

"You have two substantive budgets, the 2023 budget extended to December, and you are running them concurrently. I want to say without any fear of contradiction that the request may be legal, but that moral question will always be raised.

"For us as a House and an institution may not have the cause to stop it, I will be for it. I will convince people to be for it. We must unite ourselves and send a signal to the government of the federation," he said as members also applauded his speech.

But Mr Doguwa's subsequent attempt to sway the lawmakers to grant the president's request for the sake of the country was met with a hostile reaction as the members booed him.

Following the failed attempt by the Kano lawmaker to drum up support for the request, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen also tried to appeal to the members with no success. He stated that the request is critical for the security sector.

"The supplementary budget of 2023 is 90 per cent security-related. Because we couldn't do everything we wanted to do, the president is asking that an extension be granted. Please, let's kindly support this," he pleaded.

As the House became rowdy with the chant by the lawmakers, Mr Tajudeen called for a closed-door session to discuss the concerns of his colleagues.

Calmness after 30-minute closed-door session

When the door of the chamber was opened again after the closed-door session, the atmosphere was completely different. The lawmakers were more relaxed.

Mr Tajudeen announced that the lawmakers agreed to allow the legislation with the assurance that the president is going to ensure the speedy implementation of the two budgets.

He added that he would be presenting them to the president.

The bill was subsequently given a speedy passage through the first, second, Committee of Supply, and third reading stages within 20 minutes.