Perform on budget or get sacked - President warns

Shape up or ship out – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday told any of his aides who will be a cog in the wheel of the implementation of this year’s Appropriation Act.

After signing the N28.78 trillion 2024 Appropriation Bill, Tinubu warned ministers and heads of agencies that those who would not aid effective implementation of the budget would be eased out.

Capital expenditure got N10 trillion out of the N28.27 Budget.

Recurrent expenditure got N8.8 trillion; debt service, N8.2 trillion and statutory transfers, N1.7 trillion.

The President, who was in Lagos to celebrate Christmas and New Year, assented to the bill at the State House, shortly after returning to Abuja yesterday, a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said.

Speaking at the signing of the bill, the President assured Nigerians that the implementation of the budget would be efficiently pursued and vigorously monitored.

The statement reads: “A budget is only as good as its implementation. We will implement this. I want to assure Nigerians that all the MDAs and our teams have been warned, that’s why we even take our time to separate Economic Planning from Finance.

“MDAs must have regular reports of the budgetary performance in the areas that we put in place to help ordinary Nigerians. The goal is to promote efficiency, dedication, and accountability. If you cannot do that, you may have to leave us to do the job on your behalf.

“All MDA’s have been directed to take responsibility and provide monthly Budget Performance Reports to the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, which in turn shall ensure the veracity of such.

“The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy shall hold regular reviews with the Economic Management Team and, in addition, I shall chair periodic Economic Coordination Council meetings.”

He lauded the National Assembly for burning the midnight oil to ensure the timely delivery of the scrutinised appropriation bill to maintain the January – December Budget Cycle.

The President added: “When I presented the budget on November 29, 2023, I presented N27.5 trillion and left the room; I called for expeditious treatment of the budget, the review, the passing, the debate and all that.

“Today, we have a budget of N28.7 trillion with an increase of N1.2 trillion over the proposal that I submitted.

“I thank the National Assembly for this prompt review, adjustment and auditing. This is evidence and a great testament to the excellent relationship between the executive and the legislature. We should keep it up.”

He went on to highlight both the focus and structure of the budget, which he said is aimed at giving hope to ordinary Nigerians.

Tinubu added: “In my address then, I remarked that the budget is a Budget of Renewed Hope. It is anchored on reducing the deficit and increasing capital expenditure, particularly in our priority areas.

“The 2024 Budget that we just approved achieves both objectives. It contains a very good increase in the capital side, a reduction in recurrent expenditure and it brought down the deficit from 6.11 per cent to 3.88 per cent. That, to me, is an achievement.

“When you pay attention to education, health and road infrastructure, you are resuscitating the economy and making sure that the ordinary people are carried along.

“One of the priority areas we just passed is the N100billion provision for the feeding of school children, which will encourage our school attendance and others.

“I’ll be meeting with local governments at sub-national levels so that we can collaborate and jointly bring an all-inclusive programme that will help.”

The top priorities in the budget are defence and internal security, job creation, macroeconomic stability, improved investment environment, human capital development, poverty reduction, and social security.

The President emphasised his commitment to enhancing investment promotion while creating a rules-based society that favours no individual over the law.

He said: “Funding the judiciary is a major element in our effort to support a just, rules-based society.

“Statutory transfer to the Judiciary has been increased from N165 billion to N342 billion.”

Speaking on how the budget will be funded, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, said the government plans to rely more on generated revenues than on borrowing.

He said: “The first thing to say is that it’s a lower budget deficit, so it’s a lower financing requirement and, as a percentage of GDP, the budget deficit is down from 6.1% to 3.8%.

“We’re relying less on borrowing and more on revenue and I think you have to take the two together. I think we’re very optimistic about the improvements in revenue that will take place.

“We are all ready, even from tomorrow, applying technology and digitalisation to ensure that the revenue that should come to government from all sources, including from government-owned enterprises, comes into the consolidated revenue fund and on the other side, we are bringing order to government borrowing.

“Ways and Means is being eliminated by taking the funding that is required from the market, as opposed to the printing of money by the Central Bank.

“That, in a nutshell, is what is happening on the financing side. We are very optimistic that not only will this budget be funded adequately, but it will be funded on a timely basis as well.”

Reacting to criticisms from some quarters that the National Assembly hastily passed the Appropriation Bill, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the budget went through a thorough process.

He, however, explained that the process was seamless this time around because all those involved in the process, from the President down the line, were experienced in the process.

The minister said: “There’s nothing like being in a hurry. This shows that people are on their toes. Mr. President had experience as a member of the National Assembly, he had experience as a governor and then luckily for us as a country, now he’s sitting atop the affairs as President.

“Equally, many members of his team; the Vice President, Chief of Staff, SGF, many ministers, the First Lady of the Federation, so, there has been a build-up of relationship between the National Assembly as it ought to be.

“Committees are supposed to be working, it’s not when you are passing a budget that committees should know the priorities of the relevant sectors.

“Mr. President, ever since he was sworn in, left no one in doubt that look, ‘I want you to respect institutions; as ministers, respect National Assembly’. They work well with the committees.

“The oversight is respected, we welcome interrogation. He said so publicly. Even before the budget process started full-stream, there was a good understanding of what the challenges are; what the priorities are, and therefore it’s easy to conclude as to what we should do, and that’s what we have done.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who addressed State House Correspondents after witnessing the signing, said the legislature will be working closely with the executive to monitor implementation, given the President’s earlier directive.

He said: “We have already enjoined all our committees to get to work. And that means the President has also pointed out that it’s good to have a monthly report from the ministers or the MDAs and any head of any agency or minister found wanting would have to find his way out of his administration.

“With that directive from the President, ours is to monitor what goes on to ensure that, indeed, it is one thing to do a budget; it is another thing for the budget to be fully implemented.”

He also defended the adjustment of the N27.5 trillion bill proposed last November to N28. 78 trillion, saying the lawmakers had “very verifiable justifications” to do what they did.

House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas told reporters that the 2024 Budget was not the only legislation assented to yesterday by the president.

Abbas said that Tinubu also signed the 2023 Supplementary Budget – which will now run until March 31. Another bill is on the securitisation of the controversial Ways and Means.

He explained: “Mr. President has signed two other bills. The first one is the supplementary appropriation bill of 2023, which he has agreed to extend by 90 days. So, it will continue to work concurrently with the 2024 budget up to March 31.

“He has also approved the 2023 main budget to concurrently operate with the capital component of the 2024 budget up to March 31.

“Another landmark achievement we had was also approving the securitisation of the ways and means that have effectively brought to an end these controversial means and ways of borrowing money. And he has assured Nigerians that this will be the last of this kind of ugly incident”, Abbas said.

At the signing ceremony were Akpabio, Abbas, Edun, Bagudu, National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila; National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje; Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee Senator Olamilekan Adeola and Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation Abubakar Bichi, and others.