Agenda Papers Editorial: Frowning at late budget presentation as bedrock of fiscal indiscipline and Nigeria’s economic woes– By Austine Uche-Ejeke

At last president Tinubu forwarded the 2025 budget and appropriation bill to the national assembly on November,19th 2024.

The budget presentation is coming barely one month before the end of the year.

The national assembly particularly the Senate is expected to work ‘expeditiously’ on the budget and ensure it is passed into law before the last day of the year. This was further reinforced by the minister of budget and economic planning Atiku Bagudu when he said the executive would put efforts ( read put pressure) to ensure that the 2025 budget is passed and signed into law before December, 2024.

For more clarifications the proposed budget for 2025 is N47.9 trillion while that of 2024 was N28.17 trillion.

While we may not dwell much on the budgetary amount and figure our main concern is the timing of the budget presentation to the national assembly. Our concern is borne out of the patriotic duty as citizens to point out the sacredness and importance of budget to the government and to Nigerians.

Budget is a very serious and critical aspect of governance which must be treated with every sense of sacredness that it deserves.

Presenting 2025 budget to the national assembly barely one month to the end of the year is to say the least very appalling and highly irresponsible of a government. The question is what time do they expect the Senators to work on the budget, do a thorough job of overhauling and oversight functions to come out with a wholly appraised and tinkered budget.

Why we are concerned is that the month of December is usually a very busy and precarious one for that matter that every activity is usually hushed up. Not only that the national assembly is expected to go on Christmas break on or before the 20th December and the question props up again what time does the national assembly have to work on the budget.

Except that what Tinubu has in mind is to present the budget late, make the senators to employ fire brigade approach in it’s appraisal or just do garbage in garbage out to the budget sent to them. By that we mean approve the budget as received by the executive.

Nigerians remember in nostalgia the era of president Obasanjo, Yardua and Jonathan when the following year budget are presented to the national assembly around September or at worst October. Even with the late presentation senators that time work round the clock and in most cases the budget will not be ready by February or March of the following year.

But what have we seen in this present dispensation, an arrogant and intimidating regime who believes it can do anything and get away with it. One of the things they have been doing and getting away with it is the late presentation of budget with a subtle underhand threat of ensuring that the budget is passed before the end of the year as declared by the budget and economic planning minister.

Of course Tinubu will have his way with Godswill Akpabio as the Senate president. Be rest assured that this next year’s budget that was presented late will be passed before the end of the year.

But the implication will be the disastrous consequences that Nigerians will suffer thereafter. This is in the sense that instead of the Senate doing a thorough job of reexamining and tinkering with budget they will not just only gloss over it but add their own billions on top of it and pass it just like that.

At the end of the day what we will have will be what I describe as ‘padding paddy’ 2025 budget.

The result of this late and unserious budget presentation is already showing in the gloomy economy we have today under this present regime. For example in the coming year Nigeria will be operating three budgets, the 2024 main budget, the 2024 supplementary budget and the 2025 budget and you are telling me all will be well with the economy and Nigerians.

It is as a result of lack of discipline, thoroughness and seriousness that Tinubu in presenting the 2025 budget had the guts and audacity to ask for $2.2 billion foreign loan to run the 2024 supplementary budget which the Akpabio led Senate has as expected speedily and expeditiously approved!

Not only that the economy is getting worse because of the fiscal indiscipline of this regime, it is also mortgaging the future of Nigerians with a debt burden that is overwhelming and excruciating. From the N77 trillion debt that was left by Buhari to about N158 trillion as at November 2024, a whooping N81 trillion extra in just 18 months of Tinubu.

Needless to point out the undisputable correlation between late budget presentation and hushed up national assembly approval on the economy. This in no wise translates to fiscal indiscipline that dovetail to the wobbling economy that Nigeria has been suffering for some time now.

It is our position that the federal government sits up and do the needful of ensuring that serious issues like budget must be presented to the national assembly for scrutiny as early as possible. They should not be intimidated to pass it when they have not thoroughly finished the work on it.

There is nothing wrong in ensuring that budget of the following year are concluded by the end of the preceding year but that will only be done if the national assembly gets the budget on time to do their own work.

Nigeria is sinking and deteriorating on a daily basis and one of the reasons for that is fiscal indiscipline and hautinness of this present regime. They can redeem themselves by doing the right thing as evidenced during the era of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as minister of finance.

The right thing to do is present the budget on time and allow the national assembly to do their constitutionally assigned oversight function on it and come out with a well examined and overhauled budget.

That is the whole essence of separation of powers and principles of checks and balances as enshrined in our constitution.

***Austine Uche-Ejeke a public affairs analyst and publisher of Agenda Papers wrote vide eaustineuche@yahoo.com