Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Federal Government is projecting to spend about N346bn on Presidential Air Fleet, presidential vehicles, welfare packages, meals, and refreshments in 2024, according to an analysis of the 2024 budget proposal breakdown has shown.
The Budget Office of the Federation released the full details of the 2024 Appropriation Bill on Tuesday night, about seven days after the budget proposal was presented on the floor of the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
In 2024, all the Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as the Presidency will get N319.28bn for publicity and advertisements, medical expenses, postages and courier services, welfare packages, sporting activities, annual budget expenses and administration, refreshment and meals, honorarium and sitting allowance, and other miscellaneous activities.
The total amount to be spent on only meals and refreshments by all the MDAs in 2024 is projected at about N5.84bn.
Also, N20.52bn has been earmarked for the Presidential Air Fleet, part of which N6.58bn has been allocated for aircraft maintenance, N1.79bn for aircraft fueling, N1.68bn for the overhauling of the 5N-FGS aircraft’s engines, N1.24bn for the overhauling of the 5N-FGW airplane engines, N1.66bn for the overhauling of two Falcon 7X plane engines.
Another N6bn will be spent by the Presidency on State House operational vehicles and N2bn on replacements of SUV vehicles.
Other expenses to be incurred by taxpayers include N9.2bn budgeted for the annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installationsò of the Aso Rock Villa, N3.5bn for the construction of office complex for Senior Assistants and Senior Special Assistants, N3.5bn for the acquisition, renovation, rehabilitation and furnishing of State House Annex.
Both the President and the Vice-President intend to spend N7.5bn on foreign trips. N500m will be spent on the renovation of the president’s quarters at the State House, Presidential Villa; the renovation of the VP’s quarters at State House, presidential villa will cost N300m. Also, N5bn will go for the ongoing renovation of Dodan Barracks Presidential Lodge; another N5bn will go for the renovation of vice president’s quarters in Lagos; and the full digitalisation of the entire State House and Lagos State offices and quarters will cost N10bn.
Earlier on Wednesday, The PUNCH reported that the total amount allocated to the Presidency in the 2024 budget proposal increased by 83.58 per cent to N272bn from N148.16bn in the 2023 budget.
The N272bn comprises N176.92bn personnel costs, N34.22bn overhead costs, and N60.53bn capital expenditure.
This is an 83.59 percent increase from the N148.16 budgeted for the Presidency in 2023. The total allocation to the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, currently occupied by former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, is put at N21bn, a 97.5 per cent surge from the N517.95m allocated in the 2023 budget to the same office.
The N27.5tn budget proposal (which was put at N24.08tn on the full Appropriation Bill), themed, ‘Budget of Renewed Hope,’ was submitted to a joint sitting of the National Assembly last Wednesday where it is currently undergoing scrutiny and deliberation for final approval.
The budget expenditure estimate includes statutory transfers of N1.30tn and non-debt recurrent expenditure of N10.26tn.
N8.25tn and N243bn will be for debt service and sinking fund to retire maturing bonds issued to local contractors/creditors, respectively. Capital expenditures are expected to be at N8.70tn.
While presenting the 2024 budget to the National Assembly, Tinubu had noted that the proposed budget was seeking to achieve job-rich economic growth, macro-economic stability, a better investment environment, enhanced human capital development, as well as poverty reduction, and greater access to social security.
He said, “To improve the effectiveness of our budget performance, government will focus on ensuring value for money, greater transparency and accountability.”
During the presentation of the details of the budget, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, disclosed that the government was set to make an effort to contain financial leakages through the effective implementation of key public finance management reforms.
He added, “Revenue generation remains the major fiscal constraint to Nigeria’s fiscal viability.”
The budget continues to toe the line of higher recurrent expenditures, raising concerns about the high cost of governance despite reducing government revenues.
The PUNCH recently reported that allocations to allocations to lawmakers, judges, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and seven others will increase by 39.66 per cent in 2024 to N1.38tn.
This rise is despite appeals by the President that Nigerians need to endure the tough times. In his Independence Day address, he preached, “To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground. Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require.
“We now carry the costs of reaching a future in Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty, and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever-fading past.
“There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.”
Continued on www.punchng.com
Recently Civil Societies lamented to The PUNCH that increasing allocations to government agencies given the economic hardship in the country was a call for concern.
The Co-Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, James Ugochukwu, said, “The increase at this material time is unjustifiable and uncalled for, given the economic situation in the country. This is a government that came into power with the promise that they are going to cut the cost of governance, of which we don’t see that happening given some of the provisions they made in the 2024 budget.
“The question we should be asking is where are we going to get the funds to run all these increases that are coming up? As it stands now, what exactly is it that they want to use all these increases to do? What particular line items have been changed that warrant this increase? These are the questions Nigerians should be asking.”
The Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, noted that the primary focus of the budget should be actions and activities that directly impact the protection of lives and property, and welfare of the citizens.
The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, added, “We have been complaining about the fact that it appears that the current administration has just come to place an unnecessary burden on Nigerians and our economy by recklessly borrowing loans that nobody is seeing the positive benefit of the loans which goes against the fiscal responsibility laws.”
Recently, the World Bank of Nigeria revealed that the share of Nigerians living below the international poverty line is expected to reach 38.8 per cent in 2024. It stated that this is because of slow growth and rising inflation in the country.
