BudgIT has condemned the abuse of appropriation powers by Nigeria’s National Assembly.
It made this known in a report detailing its investigation into the recurring issue of the insertions and variations of Nigeria’s annual Appropriation Act.
The policy brief particularly assessed the last two Appropriation Bills and Acts of the 2021 and 2022 financial years.
‘Overall, while the 2021 approved budget contained 19,017 capital projects, the 2021 proposed budget contained 13,416 projects, signalling that 5,601 capital projects were added to the Appropriation Bill during the review of the bill by the National Assembly’, the report read.
‘It was observed that the monetary value of the 5,601 inserted projects summed up to N913.15 billion (which is 21.8 percent of the total capital expenditure for 2021) spread across 32 mother ministries and 327 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government’.
It further read, ‘Similarly, in 2022, and alluded to by the president during the signing of the 2022 Appropriation Bill, BudgIT observed that 6,462 projects were inserted by the National Assembly across 37 mother ministries and 340 MDAs.
‘Cumulatively, the monetary value of the National Assembly insertions in the 2022 Appropriations Act was N910.37 billion (which is 22.07 percent of the total capital expenditure for 2022)’.
These insertions, the CSO noted, indicate a breach of transparency and due process, and expose how funds meant for development projects are diverted.
BudgIT called on the judiciary, though ordinarily not part of the budgetary process, to make a significant impact, specifically in Nigeria’s case.
It said there needs to be a final judicial pronouncement on the scope of the powers of appropriation granted to the National Assembly in the constitution, especially as it regards the authority to arbitrarily insert new capital projects in the annual budget.
According to BudgIT, funds meant for development projects in Nigeria should not be diverted for personal gains, as these are public projects funded with taxpayers’ money.
Photo: Kabusa16
