The House of Representatives has started the Citizens’ Town Hall engagement on the 2024 budget and appropriation process in Abuja.
The event put together by the House Committee on Appropriation and the Programmes Coordinating Unit, Office of the Speaker of Representatives, attracted many personalities including the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Kabir Abubakar, his deputy, Iduma Enwo, and immediate past National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Iyiola Omisore (APC), among others.
In his welcome address, Kabir stated that the purpose of the gathering was to enhance citizens’ involvement in the appropriation process.
“This Town Hall is important in promoting the integrity of the budgeting process,” he said.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, presented the 2024 budget of 27 trillion naira to the national assembly.
Presenting the budget, the president said Nigeria’s national defence and internal security, local job creation, macro-economic stability, human capital development, social security, poverty reduction and investment environment optimization are some of the top priorities of the 2024 Budget of Renewed Hope.
Tinubu said the proposed budget prioritizes human capital development, with particular attention given to children because human capital remains the most critical resource for national development.
Meanwhile, the national assembly has vowed to ensure that the budget is passed by December 31, 2023.