President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday transmitted a supplementary 2023 Appropriation Bill for the sum of N819,536,937,813 to be added to his original budget proposal by the National Assembly even as he launched a new national monitoring and evaluation platform.

The proposed Revenue and Expenditure budgets for 2023 are ₦9.73 trillion and ₦20.51 trillion, respectively, resulting in ₦10.78 trillion fiscal deficit, representing 4.78% of GDP. It was presented to the National Assembly on October 7, 2022. The National Assembly was billed to pass the 2023 budget on Thursday..

The National Assembly was yet to pass the Appropriation Bill on Wednesday when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, read out the content of the cover letter on the bill to members on Wednesday. President Buhari, in the cover letter, said the additional demand for N819,536,937,813 for next year was due to the devastation caused by floods on farmlands and road infrastructure.

He said Nigeria witnessed the “worst flood incidents in recent history, which has caused massive destruction of farmlands,” stressing that the country now risks food insecurity. According to him, the floods affected “several roads and bridges” across the 36 states of the federation.
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Meanwhile President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, launched the National Monitoring and Evaluation platform, named the “EYEMARK”. The President launched the project monitoring website (www.eyemark.ng) with its accompanying mobile app shortly before the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the council chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He noted that the Federal government could no longer depend on its handful of Monitoring and Evaluation teams to oversee the vast number of infrastructure projects spread nationwide.

President Buhari said that given that his regime had invested in infrastructure projects more than any other before, it was only fitting to create adequate avenues for close monitoring by citizens. According to him, the platform would close the existing gaps and promote citizens’ participation in governance, blaming the spate of corruption on the poor implementation of infrastructure projects across the country.