This Budget is More Than a Mess

Using the hashtag, #TheBudgetisaMess, BudgIT Nigeria made a crisp post Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter): “Just look at this, Nigerians! A Federal Polytechnic (NICTM) in Edo (State) has an allocation of N900 million to construct a road in Cross River (State). This same Polytechnic is renovating traditional palaces for N300 million and supplying motorcycles to Katsina and Bayelsa traders for N100 million to ease the effect of subsidy removal.” The post listed many other projects running into several billions of Naira scattered across the country to be undertaken by this same Federal Polytechnic in Edo State before the conclusion: “Nigerians, these insertions cannot continue.

” BudgIT, a civic organization that promotes transparency and active citizen engagement, has for years been raising awareness about the futility of the national budget. When Senator Abdul Ningi was suspended in March this year following his allegation of an ‘underground budget’ of N3.7 trillion, BudgIT Director and co-founder, Seun Onigbinde, waded in on the side of the senator.

And in recent days, Onigbinde has been exposing the various insertions that make nonsense of the 2024 appropriation law. But this is a recurring issue on which I have also written dozens of columns and most times, I preface or conclude with the admonition by Laolu Samuel-Biyi that “If you want to keep hope alive in Nigeria, don’t look at the budget.” The challenge, of course, is that we cannot ignore the budget.

Yet,.