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The Senate on
Wednesday approved the virement of N51.457 billion in the 2010 budget
as requested by the executive on behalf of the Power and the Defence
ministries.

According to the
Senate, the virement is to enable the executive carry out effective
implementation of the 2010 budget in line with the already drawn action
plan for sustainable power supply in Nigeria.

The virement will
ensure the movement of funds around the 2010 appropriation for the
power ministry to the tune of N49.661 billion for a variety of
projects, including the 200 MW Kaduna power plant. Funds will be moved
from projects that are either not likely to be completed this fiscal
year or projects that are not high priority.

The defence
ministry intends to deduct N1.796 billion from some projects to fund
the repairs of damaged army barracks in Jaguza in Kano State, Gombe,

Azare in Bauchi State and Ohafia in Abia State. The virement was passed without delay at the senate.

The Senate had last
year threatened not to approve virement of funds saying they were
illegal and a recipe for laziness in budget planning and implementation.

Appointments

Meanwhile, the
Senate on Wednesday received a letter from President Goodluck Jonathan
seeking their approval for the appointment of 25 ambassadorial nominees.

The president also
forwarded the nomination of Kalu Uko as a member of the National
Assembly Commission. Mr Uko will replace D C Nwachukwu who was
representing the South-East on the board. He was nominated by the
Senate President, David Mark.

The Mr Jonathan also forwarded the nomination of Umaru Ibrahim and
Aghatise Erediauwa as managing director and executive director
(operations) of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).