The Senate, on Wednesday, passed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) N607.9 billion 2022 Appropriation Bill.

This followed the adoption of the harmonised report of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on FCT at the plenary.

Presenting the bill, the committee chairman, Smart Adeyemi, said the budget was N607,952,023,580.

He said the budget provided for creating a new district- Maitama II in the FCT.

“Already, the Bureau for Procurement Procurement (BPP) has issued a c/Certificate of No Objection.

“One of the indigenous companies is recommended to commence the construction of Maitama II.

“We propose that this budget run concurrently with the 2023 budget when passed till June.

“This is to ensure that money is expended on the projects that the two Chambers have approved because of the global economic recession.

“There is a need to inject funds into the economy so that companies do not retrench,” he said.

Contributing, the Senate minority leader, Philip Aduda, called for the early passage of the FCT budget.

“If we can pass the national budget, I don’t see any reason why the FCT budget should not be brought early and for the passage for the people of the FCT to benefit from it.

“The whole shade of Nigeria is represented in the FCT, and everybody is interested in what happens in FCT. So I urge my colleagues to ensure the passage of this budget,” he said.

Also, Matthew Urhoghide (PDP-Edo) said there were too many moribund projects in the FCT.

The Senate minority whip, Chukwuka Utazi, called for the development of the satellite towns to decongest the city centre.

Also, chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Jubrin Barau, urged the committee to do more in guiding the ministry to ensure that the capital expenditure was well implemented.

In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said efforts must be made to ensure that FCT presented its budget simultaneously with the National budget.

“The FCT budget coming at this time is in complete variance to what we have been doing in the last three and half years.

“We are likely to pass the 2023 Budget by next week, and now 2022 has just come.

“This does not help the development of the FCT. I will advise that there is a need for stepping up on how the FCT deals with its budget because time is of the essence,” he said.

(NAN)