Finally, the controversy over budget padding by the National Assembly is getting to a denouement as BudgIT, a non-governmental organisation, has affirmed that the federation’s lawmakers actually inserted N2.24tillion in the 2024 Budget for selfish 7,447 ‘constituency projects.’
The insertions by members of the National Assembly targeted some agencies and organisations, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security had the highest number of inserted projects, with 2,470 projects worth N632.31 billion, BudgIT confirmed.
More disheartening is BudgIT’s revelation that most of the projects inserted into the budget by the Federal lawmakers had no national significance except to service the federal lawmakers parochial and greedy personal interests.
In its report that was released on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, BudgIT said its findings were predicated on the allegation of budget padding by the National Assembly made by Senator Abdul Ningi representing Bauchi Central.
Theliberationnews reported that Senator Ningi had last Saturday stirred the hornets’ nest with an interview he granted the BBC Hausa service during which he alleged that the 2024 budget was padded by N3 trillion, adding that the country was operating two budgets concurrently.
The Senate hurriedly fired back on Tuesday by discussing the allegation by Senator Ningi in a rowdy session in the Red Chamber after which he was suspended for three months.
The two chambers of the National Assembly passed a N27.5 trillion in December 2023 as the 2024 Appropriation bill which the legislators later increased to N28.7 trillion.
But, BudgIT said in the report, that a breakdown of the 2024 budget showed that N25.4 trillion was earmarked for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
It further said that the N3.32 trillion allocation earmarked for government-owned enterprises (GOEs), the National Assembly, the National Judicial Commission (NJC), the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), were excluded from the budget passed and published.
BudgIT further said: “However, our findings show that a budget breakdown totalling N25.4tn was provided for the budgets of the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and some other agencies receiving statutory allocation from the federal government.
“The comprehensive budget breakdown of government-owned enterprises, the National Assembly, the National Judicial Commission, the Public Complaints Commission, INEC, and TETFUND totalling N3.32tn was excluded from the budget that was passed and published.
“This does not mean the country operates two separate budgets and that there’s only one final budget known to us.”
The report further said that the 10th National Assembly continued the ugly trend of indiscriminate insertion of projects in the budget, saying; “A total of 7,447 projects culminating in N2.24tn were inserted in the 2024 budget by the National Assembly, an ugly trend that was accelerated in the 9th National Assembly.
“Fifty-five of the projects range with a value of N580.7bn are greater than N5bn in value. We also noticed that 281 projects worth N491bn, and 3,706 projects within the range of N100–500m, worth 759bn, were inserted into the budget.
“The National Assembly has indiscriminately added projects to the budget, with most projects having no national significance but narrowed to personal interests.”
