2016 Budget: 6 Indications Buhari’s ‘Budget Of Change’ May Not Portray The ‘Change’ It Preaches

Buhari-Budget Presentation
President Muhammadu Buhari presented the proposed 2016 budget on December 22, 2016, naming it “the budget of change”. However a lot of controversies have trailed the budget, since its presentation. One of the controversies that trailed the budget was it allegedly going missing at the NASS’ and NASS’ refusal to pass it on its earlier scheduled date of February 25 due to the many errors inherent in the budget. Analyzing the the whole controversies surrounding the presentation of the budget, the content of the budget and the refusal of the NASS to pass the budget, INFORMATION NIGERIA brings you 6 indicators that the budget may not portray the change it preaches..

– The national assembly under former President Goodluck Jonathan had a one-line item for the national assembly, which was never explained to the public in budgetary terms, and also in Buhari’s budget of ‘change’ the N115 billion for the national assembly has little or no assumption.
– The State House Clinic’s N3.8billion allocation was earmarked for the State House Medical Centre while only N2,666,853,303 was proposed in the budget for the construction of hospitals nationwide.
– Vice President Osinbajo’s office got N4,906,822, proposed to be spent on books while the total allocation for books for 11 out of 22 federal polytechnics, which actually have book allocations, was a mere N3,832,038.
– The federal government is proposing to spend N1.16 billion on websites, that is N795 million for the federal ministry of solid minerals on website update, N258 million for the federal ministry of education, state house would spend N268million on computer software acquisition and N55 million for its installation and the National Intelligence Agency and federal ministry of foreign and intergovernmental affairs are also planning to spend N4.10 billion and N1 billion on computer software.
– There are loop holes in the budget such as Isaac Adewole, minister of health, disowning the budget proposal for his ministry, saying it was 10 percent less than what his team proposed. Also Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed openly disowned the N398 million being part of the budget estimates by his ministry meant for the purchase of computers. Mohammed noted that the total sum of N398 million proposed in the budget for the purchase of computers was strange to him.
– There is the N30.8million billed for residential rent at the villa and also the N699 million earmarked for the purchase of new vehicles for the state house, which got N421 million for the same, just last year, even though the president had said during his media chat that he has no need for new cars, adding that the ones at his disposal were good for the “next 10 years”.
Do you agree???