President Goodluck Jonathan is asking for additional N45 billion from the National Assembly to fund reintegration of the former Niger Delta militants in the ongoing Federal Government's Amnesty Programme.
Letters dated April 12, 2012, to that effect sent to the National Assembly from the Presidency said under the prevailing review, the reintegration of the ex-militants would cost N45 billion, instead of N924 million initially approved.
In separate letters to the House of Representatives and the Senate, Jonathan requested budgetary adjustments in sectors listed as the Universal Basic Education (UBE) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Jonathan, in the letters noted that the adjustments should highlight the new oil price benchmark of $72, an adjustment made earlier by the lawmakers during appropriation. The original benchmark had been fixed at $70.
The president also asked lawmakers to separate monies accruing for subsidy accruals for direct infrastructural spending.
'The 2012 Appropriation Bill did not separate the SURE-P from the rest of the budget. I, therefore, seek your cooperation to reflect it separately to make it easier for the board to effectively perform their monitoring mandate,' he stated in the letter.
Jonathan's letter requested that the amnesty programme be adjusted to 'release more resources for the implementation of the core aspects of the programme as against the cost of administering it.'
Under the arrangement, feeding cost and stipends for the ex-militants will be reduced from N48 billion to N20.7 billion, while the operation cost will be reduced from N16.7 billion to N3 billion. Then reintegration will now cost N45 billion, instead of N924 million.
Only recently, Jonathan assented to the 2012 Appropriation Bill of N4.697 trillion.
The budget, with an aggregate expenditure of N4.697tn (excluding the appropriation of N180billion for programmes and projects encapsulated under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme), is based on a benchmark oil price of $72 per barrel.
The appropriation consists of capital expenditure of N1.34tn and recurrent expenditure amounting to N3.357trillion.
