Review of the 2021 federal budget(2)

The revenue challenge is a serious one which is compounded by the refusal of the authorities to come clean with the figures in some instances and in others, deliberate understatement and mischief. The breakdown of the 2021 budget estimates by the Minister of Finance stated that stamp duties collected between January and September 2020 had yet to be brought into the fiscal account. So, there are no figures for actuals. What exactly does this mean at a time the government is looking for money to fund the budget and borrowing excessively? It means nothing short of the fact that the authorities are withholding fiscal information from Nigerians; that the books and accounting for stamp duties have not been properly kept and done and some backroom negotiations and cleaning out are ongoing. Otherwise, why is the government not able to account for stamp duties after nine months of collecting the same? Where is the detailed account of the collection in previous years?

Check the projection for revenue from minerals and mining for 2020, N1.90bn was projected and only N1.45billion is the actual collection. For 2021, only N2.6bn is projected for the revenue head and when this projection is pitched with recent media reports on the gold transaction between the Central Bank of Nigeria and Governor Matawalle of Zamfara State, we will realise the massive fraud and shortchanging of the treasury going on in the sector. The value and quantum of solid minerals mined in Nigeria on a yearly basis will be in trillions if the Federal Government lives up to its sacred duty of harnessing public resources to develop Nigeria. This duty should not only be activated in the pursuit of oil and gas but also must extend to all mineral resources, from gold to bitumen, etc.

The 2021 projection continues the habit of reckless borrowing by a generation of old men and women who have passed their prime and are only interested in bequeathing debts to the younger generation. We are borrowing N4.2tn to pay salaries, service debts and build unviable projects that are not backed by a cost-benefit analysis. There is no single thought given to how the money borrowed will be paid back. The unconscionable attitude of the men and women of power is that they make no concessions, no sacrifices whilst they ask the rest of us to tighten our belt. The National Assembly must take its share of N128bn even if the heavens are falling while chief executives of the MDAs must drive their N50m Sports Utility Vehicles.

Looking at the expenditure side, the details of the budget show a routine, a budget template that is inflexible, which must be filled out year after year, even when there is no need for the expenditure head. Line items like clothing and uniforms, welfare, subscription to professional bodies, etc. are still in the requests of many MDAs. Projects are listed without their locations and they are simply stated to be for the six geopolitical zones and you begin to wonder where to start in the monitoring process. This is simply the preparation for stealing public funds because this kind of budgeting has been going on year after year without evidence of where the funds were invested. Service wide votes allocate money for projects like special intervention funds and sustainable development goals- a clear euphemism for slush funds to be stolen without accountability. It is from such funds that programmes like the phantom school feeding programme (when students were at home) will be unleashed and monies will be diverted to private accounts. What has happened to the persons found by the Independent Corrupt and other related Practices Commission to have public funds in their private accounts under the guise of school feeding?

In the State House, there is a vote of N4.854bn for annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations of the Villa and this has been the practice every year. There is replacement of vehicles and spares for N436m. The Ministry of Information is asking for N295m for media intervention on contingency national issues i.e. National Assembly resolutions, executive orders, MDA matters, etc. and N336m for special enlightenment campaign on government policies and programmes; testimonial series to gauge the impact of government policies on the citizenry, advocacy against fake news, hate speech, farmer-herder clashes, banditry, rape etc. There is a bloated presidential air fleet that takes over N12.550bn. Pray, what value will the foregoing add to the living conditions of the majority of poor Nigerians? We are borrowing to sponsor individuals to pilgrimage through the National Hajj Commission and the Christian Pilgrims Commission.

As Nigerian youths are on the streets trying to #EndSARS, let them clearly demand a reworking of the 2021 federal budget to make it realistic, plug leakages, cut down waste and frivolous expenses and channel the bulk of the revenue to rebuilding the fatherland. The youth must ask the question: What is in the 2021 proposals for the youths, for the future of Nigeria? Shall we continue the culture of consuming the eggs we should have sent to hatchery? Will the youths allow the scenario which plays out like this; the reading of a will when a parent is gone and it starts with a first child, his task is to pay the money the parent borrowed from X and the second child is to pay the debts owed to Y. Instead of getting an inheritance, this is exactly what the present elders are doing/laying the foundation for with impunity.

This budget is bound to fail Nigerians and will immerse Nigeria into more debt, agony, frustration and underdevelopment. It should be fundamentally reworked and the youth should take the lead through street action. We have been speaking and appealing for years and no one seems to hear us.