The proposed 2025 budget breakdown submitted to the National Assembly for review and approval made no provision for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, a capital-intensive infrastructure project.
There is also no provision in the budget for over 60 government-owned enterprises, including the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others.
According to a review by BudgIT, a civic tech foundation, these omissions raise concerns about the credibility of the budget.
It explained that the omission of funding for the coastal road implies that if funding for the project materialises, it will likely necessitate reallocating funds from other critical projects, potentially hindering their implementation and impacting the budget’s credibility.
The organisation further observed that the budget omitted the breakdown of some MDAs, commissions, and councils, such as the National Judicial Council (N341.63 billion), and TETFUND (N940.5 billion).
It, therefore, called for prudent, patriotic, and inclusive review by the National Assembly to address the irregularities.
Read also: Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road: Here’s what real estate operators tell FG
BudgIT urged the National Assembly to proactively exercise its “Powers of the Purse” responsibly, allow robust public participation in the budget review process, and ensure that the approved budget reflects the needs and preferences of Nigerians through job creation, poverty reduction, and inclusive broad-based economic growth.
The organisation expressed concern that in previous years, it identified several budgetary insertions made by the National Assembly that deviate from the Federal Government’s constitutional mandate and priorities and are assigned to MDAs that have neither the capacity nor the mandate to implement the inserted projects.
In 2021, BudgIT observed that 5,601 capital projects were added to the appropriation bill during the review process by the National Assembly.
In 2022, it increased to 6,462 projects across 37 mother ministries and 340 MDAs, while in 2024, 7,447 insertions amounting to a staggering N2.24 trillion were found in the budget.
“While the constitution grants the National Assembly the authority to appropriate funds, it often modifies the executive’s proposed budget to distort its original intent and disconnect it from the nation’s long-term development agenda. Many inserted projects usually lack proper conceptualisation, design, and cost estimation, undermining their effectiveness and feasibility.
“We believe that the legislature must exercise this power with the utmost responsibility. This responsibility, which cannot be overstated, entails ensuring resource efficiency, eliminating waste, and aligning budgetary decisions with the nation’s long-term economic development goals”, BudgIT stated.
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