In a fervent pursuit of fiscal transparency and accountability, BudgIT Foundation, a prominent civic-tech organization in Nigeria, has intensified its critique of the proposed 2024 budget presented by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly.
Flagging what they describe as alarming discrepancies and crucial omissions, BudgIT called for an urgent review of the budgetary allocations.
Nancy Odimegwu, the Communications Associate at BudgIT, emphasized the organization’s concerns, recalling their earlier warnings to the Tinubu administration regarding budgetary practices detrimental to Nigeria’s progress. She said the foundation itemized ten plagues that the Tinubu administration should avoid in the 2024 budget and budget process to ensure value for money, curb expenditure inefficiency and waste, enforce accountability, and put Nigeria on the pathway of prosperity, economic growth, and development.
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“Unfortunately,” Odimegwu stated, “our review of the proposed 2024 Appropriation Bill reveals that some deleterious budget practices from previous regimes persist, fostering corruption, underdevelopment, unemployment, and multidimensional poverty.”
“One significant observation is the absence of crucial budget breakdowns from the National Assembly, Government-Owned Enterprises, and some Ministry Departments and Agencies in the 2024 budget proposal.
“For instance, there is no breakdown of the National Assembly, 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, Nigeria Customs Service, 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,” she added.
“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.”
The foundation highlighted significant gaps in budget breakdowns, specifically calling out the absence of critical financial details from entities such as the National Assembly, Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs), and various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Notably, the budgets of key revenue-generating entities like the Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigeria Customs Service, and others were conspicuously missing.
A startling N3.42 trillion discrepancy was identified in the proposed N24.08 trillion budget, indicating potential hidden allocations within GOEs. BudgIT stressed the urgency for disaggregated revenue and expenditure details from these entities, historically absent from formal budget presentations.
BudgIT also highlighted unfulfilled promises, pointing out that former President Buhari pledged to include MDA and GOE budgets in the annual appropriation bill for public defense and assent. These promises remained unfulfilled, carrying over into the current administration’s practices, indicating a glaring need for increased transparency in GOEs’ budget implementation.
The foundation’s detailed analysis uncovered duplications in allocations, particularly in renovations to presidential and vice-presidential quarters. A staggering N28.3 billion was allocated for these purposes, surpassing the combined capital budgets of key ministries, raising eyebrows regarding the allocation of funds.
“Similarly, the Vice President’s quarters in Lagos and Abuja, which got a cumulative sum of N5.5 billion in the 2023 supplementary budget for renovation, equally got allocations of N4 billion, N300 million, and N5 billion each in the 2024 budget.
“Cumulatively, the President and Vice President have a total allocation of N28.3 billion to either renovate or construct their quarters in Lagos and Abuja and another N10 billion to digitize those quarters,” it said.
Moreover, concerns were raised about the budget’s borrowing plans of $7.8 billion and €100 million (approximately N6 trillion) to fund the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). BudgIT questioned the rationale behind seeking approval to borrow for future budgets that currently do not exist, urging for more realistic and pragmatic revenue projections aligned with fiscal realities.
“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?
“Another concern is the revenue projections, which have generally been ambitious and unmet, even in aggregate. The budget needs revenue projections aligned with fiscal realities, which must be done realistically and pragmatically,” BudgIT stated.
Drawing attention away from unreliable sources like net oil revenue, BudgIT emphasized the need for a broader fiscal focus. They highlighted the exponential growth of the service-wide vote, reaching N4.41 trillion in the 2024 budget, containing vague budget lines prone to impropriety and corruption.
“In addition, the service-wide vote provision contains budget lines that should be captured within MDAs’ budgets and vague budget lines that create loopholes for impropriety and/or corruption,” it said.
“For example, the service-wide vote envelope in the 2024 appropriation bill contains N108 billion for “special projects” with the project code “ERGP9213044.
“To worsen the situation, the federal government budget implementation reports often contain no information on how service-wide votes are utilized.”
Urging the National Assembly to recognize the budget’s pivotal role as a policy instrument, BudgIT called for a comprehensive review prioritizing economic growth, poverty reduction, infrastructure development, and human capital investment. Their unwavering stance aimed to steer Nigeria toward a transparent and accountable fiscal future.