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BudgIT Supports Ningi over Budget Padding Allegation
As the over N3 trillion 2024 Budget scandal deepens, BudgIT, a civil organisation which simplifies the Nigerian budget, promoting transparency and fostering active citizen engagement, has backed Senator Abdul Ningi’s claim.
Co-founder and CEO of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde, threw his weight behind Ningi’s claims that over ₦3 trillion was allocated in the 2024 budget without details or expenditure items for what of the allocation was provided.
Onigbinde, said this when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday. Onigbinde said as the rowdy session by the Senate was ongoing, the BudgIT team fact-checked claims by Ningi.
Ningi, who recently resigned as chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum and faced suspension over budget allegations, had told the British Broadcasting Corporation in an interview that over N3 trillion is not tied to any project in the budget.
Speaking on Channels TV, Onigbinde said, “There should be a detailed breakdown of the budget. On that point, Ningi is right. But to say that we are running two parallel budgets, I don’t think that is factual.”
While acknowledging the absence of a breakdown for approximately N3.7 trillion in statutory transfers, Onigbinde however said this practice was not uncommon historically.
“If Senator Ningi says there is a N25trn budget, yes, that is the MDA’s budget. It’s different from the government-owned enterprises budget. In the current budget, the National Assembly gave a very broad summary of its allocations but there are no detailed allocations on a granular level that everybody can understand. TETFUND should not just get an allocation. What are you spending money on? INEC is collecting a huge chunk of funds but there is no public details about what the funds are used for.
“If you put all these together, that is around N3.5 trillion to N3.7 trillion. So, if Ningi wants to interrogate that there are components of the budget where there are no breakdown, that is very factual.”
“There are statutory elements in the budgets that do not have breakdown, but that does not seem unusual , it seems like the situation is from the past.
Historically, there are items in the budget that don’t have breakdown like statutory transfers like NJC, NDDC, TETFUND, which has been a campaign and advocacy point.
Onigbinde, also observed that several projects were allocated to agencies without capacity to deliver, citing examples such as the Ministry of Agriculture, where an initial proposal of N363 billion ballooned to N993 billion with questionable projects.
He warned that it is an attempt to stall development.
“The ministry of agriculture is the biggest culprit of this”, he said. “The executive proposed N363 billion for the ministry of agriculture budget. It came out to be N993 billion, over N600 billion worth of thousands of projects were put in. And you have some agencies that have become notorious . Federal Cooperative college , Orji River, is a school now building a town hall almost 1000 kilometres far away from the school. That is not accountability , what is the technical capability of the Federal Cooperative college to deliver a hall?
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) declared on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu’s New Year nationwide broadcast has further frustrated Nigerians’ hope for good governance.
It alleged that the speech showed that Tinubu’s administration is grossly disconnected and unconcerned with the hardship Nigerians are going through as a result of ill-implemented policies and gross mismanagement of resources under the President’s watch.
The opposition party, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, noted that Nigerians are appalled that despite the prodding of well-meaning citizens, President Tinubu’s New Year speech did not articulate any specific direction for the nation or proffer solutions to the myriad of problems caused by APC’s misrule.
“President Tinubu’s speech again underlines APC’s insensitivity to the anguish of Nigerians by failing to present any definite policy roadmap towards reducing the price of petroleum products, addressing the widespread hunger in the land, and revamping our ailing productive sector,” the PDP stated.
It further observed that “the speech did not articulate any solution-based direction for the critical sectors of electricity, oil and gas, road infrastructure, food production, among other areas that are fundamental to the wellbeing of citizens.”
The party said: “It was also pathetically devoid of a precise plan to address unemployment through strategic investment to stimulate multi-sectoral Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country.”
According to the PDP, the New Year address should have made definite pronouncements on the price of fuel, especially given that with deft, transparent, and innovative management of resources, economic potentials, comparative advantage, national refining capacity, and effective policing of our borders, Nigerians should not pay more than N350 per liter for petrol within the country.
It alleged that the Tinubu-led APC administration lacks the expected patriotic commitment as well as the required capacity, competence, and skills to effectively harness and manage the resources of the nation for the good of the citizens.
“Moreover, President Tinubu’s claim in the speech that Nigerians placed their confidence in him as their President is ludicrous and shows that he is disconnected from the reality of his abysmal perception among Nigerians.
“Mr. President must realize that Nigerians have lost faith in his administration; they have since moved on and are eagerly waiting for the next round of elections that will mark the end of the nightmare which the APC represents to our nation,” the PDP added.
A state funeral for Jimmy Carter, the former US President who died on Sunday at the age of 100, will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9, according to the US Army.
US President, Joe Biden, who last year said that Carter had asked him to deliver the eulogy at his funeral, has directed that January 9 be a national day of mourning for Carter throughout the US
The official six-day state funeral for Carter begins on Saturday as his remains travel by motorcade through his hometown of Plains, Georgia, the Army said in a statement.
The motorcade carrying Carter will stop at the farm where he grew up. There, the National Park Service will ring the historic farm bell 39 times – Carter was the 39th US President.
Carter’s remains will then be carried to Atlanta, where he will lie in repose at the Carter Presidential Center until the morning of Jan. 7. His body will then be flown to Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol until his national funeral ceremony.
The family will hold a private funeral and interment in Georgia later on Jan. 9, after the ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral.
Carter will be buried in a plot next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, on the grounds of their longtime home in Plains.
Carter, a Democrat, became President in January 1977 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election. His one-term presidency was marked by the 1978 Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East.
Carter spent his long post-Presidential career devoted to humanitarian work, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. World leaders and former US Presidents have paid tribute to a man they praised as compassionate, humble and committed to peace in the Middle East.
– Reuters –
Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Monday, presented a N1.1 trillion 2025 budget proposal to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers House of Assembly.
He announced that Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rose to over ₦250 billion naira, and it’s expected to close at ₦300 billion by the end of the year, marking a record 100% increase over the previous year.
This, alongside ₦300 billion received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), enabled the state to execute transformative projects across sectors.
Building on this success, the governor unveiled one trillion, one hundred and eighty-eight billion, nine hundred and sixty-two million, seven hundred and thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two, thirty-six Kobo (₦1, 188, 962, 739, 932. 36) for 2025 fiscal year.
The proposed budget comprises Recurrent Expenditure of ₦462 billion and Capital Expenditure ₦678 billion, reflecting a 44% to 56% ratio.
Governor Fubara outlined the expected revenue streams to fund the budget, including ₦264.3 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), ₦18.2 billion from Statutory Allocation, ₦132.1 billion from Mineral Funds, ₦204.2 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) and ₦32.2 billion from Refunds Escrow, Paris/ECA, ₦27.5 from Refands from Bank Charges and ₦20.6Bn from Excess Crude Account.
The projections are based on economic indicators such as an oil price of $80 per barrel, a production target of 1.8 million barrels per day, an exchange rate of ₦1,500 per dollar, and a 22% inflation rate.
Governor Fubara emphasised that the 2025 budget prioritises key sectors critical to the state’s development, including Agriculture to ensure food security; Education for improved access, infrastructure, and quality of learning; Healthcare; Social Investment to empower vulnerable groups and foster equity and Infrastructure Development to enhance connectivity and economic activities.
In his remarks, Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo commended the governor for his vision and commitment to the state’s progress.
The 2025 budget presentation marks Governor Fubara’s second since assuming office in May 2023, amidst ongoing legislative challenges.
