by Uchechukwu Okoroafor,Abuja
Northern senators, under the aegis of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), recently confronted the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, over the alleged padding of the 2024 budget with about N3 trillion worth of projects.
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Representatives of the 58-member Forum, led by its chairman, Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi), confronted Akpabio at a meeting in the latter’s Guest House located in the Maitama District of Abuja.
They alleged the projects, which had no locations, were discreetly inserted into the budget. They also claimed that the budget was lopsided against the North and some parts of the South.
The northern senators also accused Akpabio of railroading the senators to hurriedly pass “the most fraudulent budget in the history of Nigeria.”
It was learned that Akpabio’s move to mobilise southern senators may have informed Ningi’s interview with the BBC Hausa Service, where he claimed that there were two federal budgets in operation.
He said, “For the last three months, we have employed private financial auditors to extensively examine the 2024 budget. We have uncovered significant unauthorized changes and additions in the budget that would have a widespread negative impact on the nation as a whole.
“We are supposed to meet with the Senate president and show him the irregularities we saw in the budget and let him know our concerns. We will not agree and support spending money on what we are not aware of. Because apart from the budget the National Assembly passed, some people went behind our backs and prepared another budget we are not aware of. There were inclusions we don’t know about, but our experts are still working on it.
“Example, we had a budget of N28 trillion, but after our thorough checks, we found out that it was a budget of N25 trillion. How and where did we get the additional N3 trillion, and what are we spending it for?
“And there are many other issues we have discovered. We are going to meet with the president and show him, we will ask him if he is aware of all these things that are happening. We will show him and ask him if he is aware of it, and what he intends to do to those who partake in the whole manipulation and inclusion.”
President Bola Tinubu presented a budget of N27.5 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly in November. It was his first full budget proposal since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
However, while passing the budget on December 30, the lawmakers increased it by N1.2 trillion, bringing the total to N28.7 trillion. This was after they increased the allocations to some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government, which they said received inadequate funding.
Some key elements of the budget as approved by the lawmakers are: – Aggregate (N28,777,404,073,861), statutory transfers (N1,742,786,788,150), Recurrent expenditure (N8,768,513,380,852), capital expenditure (N9,995,143,298,028), and GDP (3.88%). President Tinubu signed the budget into law on January 1.
Budget padding and increments have become a frequent occurrence in Nigeria since the restoration of democracy on May 29, 1999. It, however, became more pronounced during the Buhari Presidency.
In 2016, allegations of budget padding by the National Assembly came up as a major scandal that eventually saw the removal of the then chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumini Jibrin, from office on July 20, that year.
Jibrin had alleged that the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and three other officials fraudulently short-changed the House and abused their offices by taking away N40 billion out of the N100 billion allocated for constituency projects and distributing the same to themselves.
That year also, some projects worth N480 billion were discovered to have been fraudulently inserted in the budget during the defence sessions.
For instance, the then Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, disowned the budget attributed to his ministry, saying, “This is not what we submitted, we will submit another one. We don’t want anything foreign to creep into that budget. What we submitted is not there.”
His Information counterpart, Lai Mohammed, also disowned his ministry’s budget, saying, “No, that is not possible. That was not what we proposed, this cannot be.”
While signing the 2019 Appropriation Bill of N8.92 trillion into law, former President Muhammadu Buhari accused the National Assembly of raising the budget by N90 billion from N8.83 trillion.
The former president said the increment would make it difficult to achieve the objectives of his government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
The following year, 2020, Buhari raised concerns about projects inserted into that year’s budget by the National Assembly. The legislature had increased the budget by about N264 billion. The president said projects were added to the budgets of MDAs with no consideration that their action would trigger incremental recurrent expenditure.
In 2021, the National Assembly reportedly padded the federal budget by over N500 billion.
Buhari, had proposed to the lawmakers N13.08 trillion. But during the budget vetting process, the lawmakers arbitrarily increased it to N13.6 trillion, an increment of over N500 billion.
In 2022, Buhari lamented some changes, major additions, and reductions made by the lawmakers “without justification,” while assenting to the 2022 budget. Among them were an increase in projected federal government independent revenue by N400 billion, reduction of the provisions for the non-regular allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion, respectively.
He also frowned at the new provisions totaling N36.59 billion for National Assembly projects in the Service Wide Vote. Buhari said most of the projects inserted relate to matters that are the responsibilities of state and local governments.
While signing the 2023 Appropriation Bill into law on January 2, Buhari observed that new projects worth about N770.72 billion were inserted by the federal lawmakers, while estimates made by MDAs were increased by about N58.55 billion.
Budget padding, the unauthorized manipulation or inflation of budgetary figures by public officials for personal gain or to benefit certain projects, has been a longstanding issue in Nigeria’s governance. This practice, often shrouded in secrecy and corruption, has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the immediate financial implications.
Budget padding distorts the allocation of resources, as funds are diverted to projects that may not be in the public interest or aligned with national development goals. This misallocation undermines the intended purpose of the budget, hindering the effective delivery of essential services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development.
The revelation of budget padding erodes public trust in government institutions. When citizens discover that public officials manipulate budgets for personal gain rather than addressing their needs, it breeds skepticism and disillusionment. This erosion of trust weakens the social contract between the government and the governed, jeopardizing the democratic process.
Misappropriation of funds through budget padding hampers economic development by diverting resources from critical projects that could stimulate economic growth. Infrastructure projects, job creation initiatives, and poverty alleviation programmes suffer, impeding the overall progress of the nation.
Budget padding is a breeding ground for corruption, as public officials exploit their positions to siphon public funds into unauthorized projects. This not only undermines the fight against corruption but also perpetuates a culture of impunity, where those responsible for managing public resources act with impunity.
Essential social services, particularly education and healthcare, are often the casualties of budget padding. Funds earmarked for the improvement of schools, hospitals, and other social infrastructure may be diverted, resulting in dilapidated facilities and a decline in the quality of public services.
Adequate funding for national security is crucial for a stable and secure nation. Budget padding, by diverting resources meant for defense and security, compromises the ability of security agencies to effectively combat insurgency, terrorism, and other threats, thereby putting the nation at risk.
The unauthorized inflation of budgets places an undue burden on public finances. When funds are redirected to projects that do not contribute to national development, the government is forced to seek additional loans or resort to deficit financing, exacerbating the country’s debt burden.
Budget padding contributes to an environment of financial opacity and mismanagement, which erodes foreign investor confidence. Investors are hesitant to engage in an economy where public funds are susceptible to misappropriation, hindering foreign direct investment and economic growth.
Budget padding in Nigeria is a multifaceted issue with severe consequences that extend across various sectors. Tackling this challenge requires a comprehensive approach involving legislative reforms, enhanced transparency, and stringent accountability mechanisms. As Nigeria aspires to achieve sustainable development and good governance, addressing the consequences of budget padding is imperative for fostering economic growth, restoring public trust, and creating an environment conducive to national prosperity.