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A heated debate erupted in the House of Representatives on Thursday regarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's request to extend the implementation period for the capital component of the ₦21.83 trillion 2023 budget and the ₦2.17 trillion 2023 supplementary budget to December 2024.
According to Daily Trust, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen read a letter regarding the request, after which the executive bills seeking the extension were introduced.
When House leader Prof Julius Ihonvbere moved for the bill's second reading, House Minority leader Kingsley Chinda voiced strong concerns.
Chinda, however, argued against this, stating that it would be morally wrong to run three to four budgets simultaneously.
He pointed out that the 2024 budget is already being implemented while the executive is still requesting extensions for the 2023 budget.
He suggested incorporating important projects from the supplementary budget into the main budget instead.
Former House Leader Alhassan Ado Doguwa echoed Chinda's sentiments, agreeing that running three budgets concurrently would be morally inappropriate.
Speaker Tajudeen intervened, urging members to support the extension. He emphasised that most items in the supplementary budget pertained to security issues.
Despite his appeals, many lawmakers remained opposed, loudly voicing their disapproval.
As tensions rose, Speaker Tajudeen called for an executive session to resolve the issues before resuming consideration of the bills.
It was gathered that the lawmakers are currently in an executive session.