BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – BudgIT, a Civic organization, has described as ambitious the proposed 2018 budget of N8.6 trillion that needs proper interrogation from all stakeholders for effective implementation and service delivery to Nigerians.
However, the body admits that the proposals’ guiding framework captures majority of the objectives and philosophy that scholars, researchers and economists are likely to think about when the need for fiscal injections arise.
Equally, it said that analysis on the proposed budget will be “better when line items are released to the public in a timely manner in line with the fiscal responsibility act that the president swore to uphold.”
Chief Executive Officer of BudgIT, Mr Seun Onigbinde said though the government’s philosophy of spending big due to the relatively slow economic activities is clearly understood and a welcome development, “Nigeria cannot continue to borrow to buy cars, computers, retrofit office buildings at the detriment of the critical mass needed to improve the economy and end the cycle of poverty”.
Onigbinde, who noted that the capital expenditure allocation of N2.42 trillion is huge in nominal terms when compared to previous budgets, said with almost all capital expenditure allocation to be financed primarily by debts, it is important that line items in the budget reflect such arrangement.
In a statement signed by its Communication Lead, Mr Abiola Afolabi-Sosam, the BudgIT CEO said; “We hope the biggest proportion of capital allocation will go into improving infrastructure, expanding access to education and health, among others.”
He said the organization considers the N6.6 trillion revenue projections as very optimistic, given that the total retained revenue of the Federal Government, including non-oil and oil-related revenue in 2015 and 2016, was N2.8 trillion and N2.6 trillion respectively.
The statement stated that with government’s non-oil revenue figures in the first six months of 2017 at N587 billion, there are no significant facts to suggest the figure would double or triple in the new fiscal year, stressing that; “Oil revenue for the 2018 fiscal year is projected at N2.332 trillion while the biggest bracket of government expected revenue is projected to come from the non-oil sector at N4.16 trillion.”
“We accept that the budget benchmark is of $45 per barrel is within the band, but there has to be excessive caution in keeping the peace of the Niger Delta, which is a crucial element in ensuring optimal production”, the statement said
It also said given that the biggest percentage of projected revenue would come from non-oil sector, government must be more transparent about government finances, including releasing more information on actual recoveries from loot purportedly returned by former public officials.
Furthermore, BudgIT said significant investment in infrastructure, education and agriculture, among other vital sectors, are important if the country’s hope of diversifying government revenue and export base is to be sustained.
Also appreciating the planned improvement in tax administration, which the government hopes to push ahead in 2018 as highlighted in Mr President’s budget presentation speech, the body said it is equally essential to end the cycle of poverty through some form of social intervention.
BudgIT is a civic organization that applies technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement, to facilitate societal change.
An established name in social advocacy, blended with technology, it relies on various technology tools to simplify the budget and matters of public spending for citizens. The primary aim is to raise transparency and accountability standards in government.
