Nigeria’s $20b budget can’t fast-track devt, far below global peers, says Bagudu

• Sule: World Bank loan for development, not to cushion effect of hardship
• Nigeria’s food crisis deepens amid protests
• Atiku: Tinubu’s govt has adopted propaganda as state policy in face of citizens’ hunger

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has said that Nigeria’s $20 billion budget lags behind the budgets of other populous countries such as Indonesia and Brazil, and may not support fast-paced development.

Bagudu stated this during his address at the launch of ActionAid Nigeria’s Country Strategy Paper, themed ‘Citizens’ Action Against Poverty and Injustice (2024-2034),’ in Abuja on Thursday.

He said: “The federal budget of Indonesia is about $210 billion. The federal budget of Brazil is about $700 billion and has been at that level for a while — for upwards of a decade. Nigeria’s federal budget is currently about $20 billion, with the highest it has reached being around $35 billion.

Bagudu posed critical questions about Nigeria’s aspirations, questioning whether the country can realistically hope to achieve development seen in Brazil or Indonesia with such limited federal spending. He urged the nation to confront the reality of its economic situation, likening it to a family coming to terms with its financial limitations.

He stressed the importance of collective action from both the government and citizens to address what he termed as “decades of under-investment” in critical sectors.

“The situation we face today is not the result of any single leader’s actions but rather the outcome of cumulative under-investment over many years. We must all contribute to the solution,” Bagudu stated.

The minister noted that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was determined to address these challenges, consistent with practices in other countries, without apportioning blame. According to Bagudu, addressing Nigeria’s economic issues requires the involvement of all citizens, not just the government.

ActionAid Nigeria’s country director, Andrew Mamedu, also spoke at the event, warning that if Nigeria did not take urgent action to tackle poverty, future generations could suffer even more.

He cited alarming statistics showing that 133 million Nigerians, out of a population of 200 million, are multi-dimensionally poor, lacking not only financial resources but also essential services like education, healthcare, and clean water.

Reacting to governors’ role in combating the hardship and hunger in the country, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Thursday, said the World Bank loan received by states is for infrastructural projects and not to cushion the effects of hardship faced by Nigerians.

Over the past nine months, the Federal Government disbursed N573 billion to governors to fight poverty in their domain. Many Nigerians, including human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, had challenged states and the FCT to explain how they spent the money they received.

But speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the governor explained that states received the money in batches with the latest received so far in June. “The money is tied to certain projects. It is almost like a regimented loan from the World Bank. The money is not for rice, it is not for palliatives, it is not for anything in that line,” he said.

“That money came from the World Bank and that was the second disbursement which came in November last year. The account amount was credited to the account of every other state, sometimes around January.”

The governor explained that during the second tranche received by states, Nasarawa received N13.6 billion, representing over 10 per cent of the amount.
When asked about the per cent given for the repayment, the governor said: “The World Bank is actually doing it at no interest.

“The reason is because it was coming to support states because of the pandemic. It started around 2020. The first disbursement was done even before Mr President came in May 2023. The third disbursement was the one done in June that was advertised. Every state has been credited and no state is denying it.”

In April 2023, the Federal Government disbursed N77 billion to states and the FCT to fund the NG-CARES programme and contribute to tackling multi-dimensional poverty in the country. A total sum of N112 billion was disbursed by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to states and FCT to fight poverty.

However, in 2023, the Federal Government approved the release of N135.4 as reimbursement to States and FCT for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) Programme.

In July 2024, the Federal Government released over N438 billion in reimbursement to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory under the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus programme.

Nigeria’s food crisis has however deepened in August as governments scramble for solutions amid widespread anger and discontent among the people. Within the month, the food crisis manifested not only in the activities of crop farmers but also in the anguish of poultry owners.

The continuous increase in the prices of goods and services over the past year has chased some of the farmers out of business, a poultry farmer said, adding that many have already cut down on their production quantity amidst fears that feed producers might have also compromised livestock feed qualities due to skyrocketing prices of feed ingredients.

WITH government’s interventions notwithstanding, the media team of ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has chided media handlers of President Bola Tinubu over attempts to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that the president was compassionate.

It described the use of an old video of President Tinubu appealing to Nigerians; to cover up for his poor outing during his last national broadcast on the #Endbadgovernance protests as evidence of this duplicity.

Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement, in Abuja, yesterday said, “In the afternoon of Wednesday and on Day 7 of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest, the official X handle (formerly known as Twitter) of President Tinubu posted a video clip of the President appealing to Nigerians to relax the protest and give his administration more time.

“The video went viral on social media and it was adjudged to have shown more empathy for the concerns of protesting Nigerians, unlike the shambolic speech by the President on Sunday that will forever be remembered in ignominy.

“Curiously, much later in the evening of the same day, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, made a post on his X handle telling the country that the video clip that was posted on the President’s handle, “is not a new video. It’s a clip from a broadcast he made last year.” What a wawu!

“The scenario says a lot about the character of the Tinubu presidency, the proficiency of his media managers, and the attitude that the presidency accords the current #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.

“For a start, what the Tinubu presidency did with the old video is to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, to distract them. It’s a mannerism that is symptomatic of this presidency. This president and his media managers are a class act in propaganda.

“It is indeed shameless that in a time where misinformation and disinformation are being blamed for public outrage in many parts of the world, the Nigerian government is caught red-handed in the act, adopting it as a state policy.”