From all indication, the proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year didn't attract a standing ovation from Nigerians (or perhaps it did, in a negative sense).
The spending plan which was presented yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly is put at N13.08 trillion, about 21% increase from that of 2020 which was N10.08 trillion.
The budget projects a crude oil benchmark price of $40 per barrel and an estimated daily oil production of 1.86 million barrels, with 300,00 – 400,000 barrels per day of condensates inclusive. It also considered an inflation rate of 11.5 per cent and a GDP growth rate of 3 per cent.
An overall look at the budget shows that the expenditure by Federal Owned Enterprises is put at N1.35 trillion while Grants and Aid funded expenditure is at N354.85 billion. Other features in the budget include a N5.65 trillion for recurrent expenditure, N3.76 trillion personnel cost and N3.12 trillion debt service.
The spending plan proposes a N484.4 billion for statutory transfer, N501.19 billion for Pension, Gratuity and Retirees and N625.50 billion for overhead cost.
What got Nigerians talking, however, is the breakdown of the statutory transfer where the President allocates N35.03 billion for Basic Health, N70 billion for Education and N128 billion for the National Assembly amongst others.
Several individuals and bodies have long taken to their social media handles to express their disapproval over what they consider a “misplaced priority" considering the fact that the country, and the world at large, is trying to recover from the havoc caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Others have doubted the President emphasizing on revenue generation as being the biggest challenge faced given the inappropriate allocation of funds.
Popular among them is the tweet by the Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Projects (SERAP), a non-profit, non-partisan legal and advocacy organization, which describes the allocation to the National Assembly as “travesty".
SERAP went on to tweet that, “The National Assembly ought to prioritise spending for education and healthcare. We’ll see in court if our lawmakers approve this money for themselves"
As Nigerians vent their disappointment, we only hope that the President and his cabinet members does what is truly democratic by channeling funds to where it is most needed especially in this post-COVID-19 times.
