2024 Budget Implementation: Where Is The Evidence?

By Victor Emejuiwe*

In a bid to assuage protesters during the #EndBadGovernance protest, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while addressing Nigerians in a live broadcast, recounted the actualisation of half of its revenue generation target for 2024 as one of the major achievements of its administration.

According to the President, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023, due to its efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation and mobilizing funding creatively. Recall that the 2024 budget, which was tagged “the budget of renewed hope”, had an aggregate expenditure of 27.5 trillion nairas, with a non-debt recurrent expenditure put at 9.92 trillion nairas, while debt service is projected to be 8.25 trillion nairas and capital expenditure at 8.7 trillion nairas.

Out of the total sum of 27.5 trillion, the government was meant to realize 18.3 trillion naira from internal sources and to be left with a deficit of 9.18 trillion naira. Judging from past trends, this feat is a welcome development because the past government, under former President Buhari, consistently failed to realize its revenue target; rather, it incurred more deficit and resulted in funding a greater percentage of the budget on borrowings.

Despite this achievement by the Tinubu administration, it is ironic that Nigerians cannot point to any evidence of positive developmental transformation or changes in the livelihood of people as a result of the revenue generated in the first half of the year. Such a quantum of money realized is expected to be deployed through budget releases to MDAs for the funding of critical infrastructural projects and programs under the renewed hope agenda.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence of projects embarked upon by most MDAs. Upon enquiries, most of the MDAs have complained of a lack of budgetary releases to implement approved capital projects under their domain. Meanwhile, in the face of the current hunger plaguing families and homes in Nigeria due to the removal of fuel subsidies, the President had promised to utilize the budget to restore hope to Nigerians.

Amongst the promises of Mr President is to provide massive social security programs for Nigerians, implement critical infrastructural projects, reduce poverty and hunger by boosting food production and providing security in the farming areas, invest in renewable energy, etc. Judging from these promises, little can be said to have been achieved because infrastructural projects across the country remain in a very critical state. Notable routes like the east-west road and roads traversing between Lokoja in the North central and the South East to mention but a few, remain un-motorable.

On the social security programs such as the presidential conditional grant scheme, where promises were made to reach one million businesses in the 774 local government areas and other programs, there is a lack of transparency and accountability on how the beneficiaries of these programs were selected.

Nigerians are very much aware that the current social register being utilized by the country to cater for the poorest of the poor cannot be trusted due to the corruption cases recorded and reported in the use of the register. There is no evidence of cleaning the register or producing a new one.

Also, Nigerians are fully aware that the president has presented up to three supplementary budgets since assuming office to the National Assembly, yet there are no visible projects to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal on Nigerians. It was only recently that the President launched the 33 powered CNG buses amongst high demand for CNG-powered vehicles in Nigeria.
Nigerians expect that by this time, the Federal Government will have established partnerships with investors to establish numerous CNG assembling plants across the country and facilitate the importation of CNG-powered vehicles to be distributed to Nigerians at subsidized rates. Nigerians also expected the Federal Government to deploy funds to fix our moribund refineries and get them to work at optimal capacity so that the country can stop the importation of refined petroleum products.
Most worrisome is the fact that the budget office of the federation has been failing in its duty to upload budget implementation reports on its website; the last report on the BOF website is that of the third quarter of 2023. The failure of the budget office to account for a round of four quarters implementation report of the 2024 budget, makes it difficult for well-meaning Nigerians to assess Mr. President’s performance based on his statement on revenue realized.
In conclusion, as the nation forges ahead to attain its fiscal targets, the utilization of these resources should be apportioned transparently in such a manner that would be evident in the social well-being and developmental outcomes of Nigerians.

*Emejuiwe, the Monitoring Evaluation/Strategic Communication Manager, writes from the Centre for Social Justice, Abuja. 08068262366