BudgIT, one of the frontiline civic society organisations promoting transparency, accountability and effective service delivery in Nigeria, has raised some concerns over the proposed 2024 Appropriation Bill now before the National Assembly.
In a statement issued by the organization on its observations in the fiscal document, it lamented that the President Bola Tinubu’s administration had sustained the deleterious budgetary practices of past administrations that led to unbridled corruption, underdevelopment, unemployment, multidimensional poverty and other socioeconomic hardships in the country.
BudgIT further alleged that the proposed budget lacked breakdowns from the National Assembly, Government-Owned Enterprises and some Ministry Departments and Agencies in the 2024 budget proposal.
It stated: “For instance, there is no breakdown of the National Assembly budget, the Niger Delta Development Commission and the North East Development Commission’s budget.
“For emphasis, the budgets of key revenue-generating government entities—including the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM), to mention a few—are conspicuously missing from the proposed 2024 budget presented to the National Assembly.
“Furthermore, the proposed budget’s total sum is N24.08 trillion, indicating a discrepancy of N3.42 trillion compared to the N27.5 trillion aggregate budget presented.
“We suspect that the difference above comprises the aggregate budgets of the Government-Owned Enterprises. To this effect, the Government-Owned Enterprises’ proposed revenue and expenditures require disaggregation. The revenues and expenditures of several Government-Owned Enterprises have historically been absent from formal budget presentations” the civil advocacy group added.
According to it, there have been duplications in allocations, particularly in renovating the President’s and Vice President’s quarters as the Federal Government made provisions for a cumulative sum of N8 billion (N4 billion each) through the 2023 supplementary budget for renovating the President’s official quarters in Aso Rock Villa and Dodan Barracks.
It further clarified: “Additionally, the proposed Appropriation Bill indicates plans to borrow $7.8 billion and €100 million (approximately N6 trillion) to fund the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
“The Federal Government has projected a foreign borrowing of N1.77 trillion to finance the fiscal deficit of the 2024 budget; hence, should the government be seeking approval to borrow to fund budgets (2025 and 2026) that are not currently in existence?”, it queried.
In view of the observed fiscal excesses, BudgIT urged the National Assembly to recognize the budget’s pivotal role as a government policy instrument and conduct a thorough examination.
It advocated: “We call for a comprehensive review that prioritizes broad-based economic growth, reduces inequality, addresses poverty, tackles insecurity, bridges Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, and invests in human capital development.”
