The Senate yesterday urged the Federal Government to approve N10 billion in this year’s budget to finance literacy development in the capital market.

Its Chairman on Capital Market, Osita Izunaso, said this when the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Wale Edun, and the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, appeared before the panel yesterday in Abuja.

Izunaso said the request was meant to boost the operations of the capital market towards contributing meaningfully to economic development.

The committee chairman, who regretted that only 5,000 investors were in the capital market, said a special fund would boost the sector.

“We are asking for an intervention for capital allocation, a special funding to finance literacy development in the capital market because that is where the problem is.

“So, if you do that, we will be happy and the capital market will blossom. You will get our letter in that regard today after this meeting.

“That is the hallmark of what Senator Victor Umeh said, that most of them (investors) lost their money through this capital market system. People lost money; people have not regained confidence and we are pushing them,” Izunaso said.

Senator Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central) had described the capital market as an essential indicator of “the health of any economy” and how the capital market operates across the world.

He said: “From the past experience from the capital market, a lot is expected to be done to restore public confidence in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

“Being able to restore public confidence is key to the operations in that sector. Why we said this is because what we saw was a shock and traumatic experience where investors in the market lost all their funds.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Sani Musa, explained that the request for N10 billion for literacy and enlightenment was necessary in the light of the current realities.

“We need to see how we can take money out from the budget for the campaign,” he said.

Edun announced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had set up a target of $1 trillion economy, adding: “What matters is the vibrancy of the economy.

“This is in terms of having economic stability at the macro level, in terms of the revenues, budget deficits, and inflation rates such that the coming together of these major variables can create a stable environment which will improve investment, including investment in the capital market through the stock exchange.

“All these are under the purview of the SEC.

We now have a much more stable macro economy for investments as a result of the President’s decisive, timely intervention.”

Also, Senate President Godswill Akpabio yesterday promised that the Red Chamber will pass this year’s N54.2 trillion Appropriations Bill latest by tomorrow.

Akpabio made the promise during plenary, urging relevant committees to take swift actions to make the passage possible.

He said: “We need to finish quickly to brush up the budget for possible presentation tomorrow (Wednesday) or next (Thursday).”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had initially presented a ₦49.7 trillion budget to the National Assembly on December 18, last year.

But on February 5, he revised the budget upwards to ₦54.2 trillion, citing additional revenue to be generated by key government agencies.

The President said the increase was backed by ₦1.4 trillion in additional revenue from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), ₦1.2 trillion from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and ₦1.8 trillion from other government agencies.