Senate passes 2014 budget of N271 billion for Abuja

David Mark

The Senate has passed the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, 2014 Appropriation Bill of N271 billion for 2014.
The passage followed the consideration of the report of the Senate FCT Committee on the FCT Appropriation Bill 2014.
The committee’s Vice Chairman, Domingo Obende, who presented the report, said the passage of the budget would enhance the development of the territory for the benefit of its residents.
A breakdown of the budget shows that N161.8 billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, N49.2 billion for personnel cost, while N60.37 billion was earmarked for overhead.
Highlights of the budget include the allocation of N31 billion for transport sector, six billion naira for security, five billion naira for education, amongst others.
In his speech after the passage of the budget, Senate President David Mark urged the FCT committee to supervise the budget for the territory to ensure effective implementation.
He said: “again this budget is coming rather late. I hope that the FCT will implement this budget.
“I hope the FCT Committee will effectively supervise implementation of this budget.
“What all of us will want is to see is a model Capital City. So no amount of development is either too fast or too much for Abuja.”
(NAN)