Tag
Aso Villa budgeted over ₦25bn for maintaining its electricity and plumbing since 2016. And now it has budgeted ₦4.85bn for the coming year, at a time of economic uncertainty; all the while preaching the gospel of solar and new electricity tariffs.
Being a president comes with its perks, and so does working for the presidency. But for Nigeria, the lines between officeholders’ satisfaction and taxpayers’ contribution continue to blur.
The UN seems to recognise the Nigerian government’s proactiveness against COVID-19, but what can we say about her healthcare, particularly family planning (FP).
Cash-strapped, and faced with limited options, the Federal government (FG) will once more rely on borrowing to fund the 2021 budget deficit.
The unmet needs of family planning increased drastically during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. In Kaduna, experts said the lockdown created a room for shortages in the supply of commodities and a high rate of unintended pregnancy. They also discussed the paucity of funds, which resulted in poor management of family planning in Kaduna.
In the last couple of years, the Nigerian government has described its budget in manners that suggest high aspirations for growth and development. In 2016 for instance, the budget carried a theme of change. Similarly, the 2018 budget was described as a budget of consolidation.
A recent DATAPHYTE occasional paper revealed that budgetary provision to some of the top five most critical sector’s of Nigeria’s economy accounted for only 17 percent of the initial 2020 budget. While these five key sectors (Agriculture, education, health, infrastructure [power, works and housing], and security) compete for less than a fifth of the total budget size, allocation to debt servicing was over 25 percent of the total budget size for the same year.
The Federal Government has announced its decision to downsize the 2020 budget by ₦1.5tn. Yet, there is no public information on the budget items that make up the amount. Though budget cut is a reasonable decision, experts say the government must exercise caution. That the implementation must secure critical sectors such as education and health
For Today’s Numbers to Ponder, Nigeria ranks 97th position in a global survey of 117 countries on budget transparency. In the Open Budget Survey 2019, the country scored 21% in budget transparency, 22% in public participation, and 55% in budget oversight. Is this a burst? An allegation of diverted N23 million COVID-19 palliative fund is hanging on the neck of the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede. To support the government in the fight against the pandemic, a religious group has offered its 425 health facilities as isolation centres for COVID-19. Tony Ojukwu, the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), says the Nigerian Police caused nearly 60 percent of reported human rights abuses perpetrated during the second phase of the strict lockdown. This is also in tandem with a report by Dataphyte on how the Nigerian Security Operatives killed 13 while enforcing lockdown last month.
For today’s Numbers to Ponder, Nigeria emerged 97th position in global budget transparency survey, falling behind Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Experts told DATAPHYTE that the opacity in the budget process makes Nigeria lose out among the comity of nations. In the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, no Workers’ Day celebration for frontline health workers as 113 already contracted the COVID-19 virus.
The failure to publish the Audit Report in a timely manner and non-disclosures of broad parameters of fiscal policies continue to affect Nigeria’s ranking on budget transparency. A new survey by the International Budget Partnership has shown.
The federal government is currently rethinking the 2020 budget to respond to the shocks stemming from ongoing global oil price crisis. The 2020 budget bench-marked crude oil price at $57/b but, as of now, the price is $38, could slide further. The crisis is triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, which has affected demand from the world’s second-largest economy, China, and, of course, the associated price war by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
No doubt, a number of ills characterised Buhari’s administration in 2019. From over 75 attacks on the press, to a number of violations of court orders and the pumped prices that came with the closure of the Nigerian border. Chibok girls are still missing and the negotiation for release remain a political subject. Moreover, thousands of displaced persons and deaths still caused by Boko Haram attacks. The same government has virtually run deficit budget and incurred not less than $80 billion in debt since 2015.
The federal government has deemed it fit that two thousand naira (N2,000) would be enough in the year 2020 to provide for the healthcare of each of the estimated 200 million Nigerians. This is according to the meagre 427.3 billion naira being budgeted for Healthcare in the proposed 2020 national budget.
