Federal Government plans to spend an estimated N59 billion on ex-militants, according to details of the 2014 Appropriation Bill presented to both arms of the National Assembly last week.
A breakdown of the figure showed that while N23.6 billion will be spent for payment of stipends to 30,000 ex-militants, another N35.4 billion is allocated for transformed ex-militants.
The Presidency is to spend a total of N33.4 billion within the fiscal year, out of which N25.106 billion represents recurrent expenditure, while capital expenses is estimated at N8.39 billion.
A further breakdown of the Presidency’s budget shows that N320.222 million is for ‘honorarium and sitting allowance,’ N267.775 million for ‘welfare.’
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been allocated N10.245 billion in the budget, comprising N8.838 billion, or 86.26 per cent recurrent expenses and N1.406 billion, or 13.72 per cent as recurrent.
The budget also made provision of N700 million for the proposed National Dialogue.
Allocation proposed for the Education sector increased to N493.45 billion of the total, which represented 10.6 per cent of the total 2014 budget proposal.
The Appropriation Bill, presented by Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, before both arms of the National Assembly, showed that N3.7 trillion, representing 72 per cent of the N4.6 trillion, is to be spent on recurrent expenditure, while N1.1 trillion was earmarked for capital projects.
This, according to analysts, does not tell of any plan for infrastructure development in the coming year. The document, they believe, failed to address critical needs of the country.
On the revenue side, the Bill proposed a Gross Federally Collectible Oil and Gas Revenue of N7.16 trillion while Non-Oil Revenue is projected at N3.29 trillion.
Out of the oil revenue, total deductions, including cost of crude oil production, subsidy payments, and domestic gas development is put at N2.15 trillion, the same amount as in 2013.
The Federal Government budget revenue is estimated at N3.73 trillion. Subsidy payments were maintained at the 2013 level of N971.1 billion.
On the fiscal balance side, the government projected that in the 2014 financial year, fiscal deficit would be about N911.96 billion, representing about 1.90 per cent of the GDP while total borrowing of N571 billion is proposed in the Appropriation Bill, representing a mere N6 billion decrease from the approved 2013 figures.
For Edwin Ikhinmwin, a financial analysts and former bank chief executive, the 2014 budget does not show any sign of helping to create jobs, which would ordinarily come through massive capital investment “needed to rejuvenate our dilapidated infrastructure and build new capacities to support job creating growth.”
Consequently, he told Daily Independent, a “budget document that provides only 27 percent for capital expenditure is a trip in self delusion and propagation of false hood. The weight of recurrent expenditure cannot be supported by the capital budget. This is symptomatic of a rent economy whose long-term growth is not sustainable.
It is like the winner of a lottery who changed his style to expensive consumption without investing in sustaining wealth creation. The money soon got finished and he became poorer than before.”
Olufemi Awoyemi, and analyst and Chief Executive of Proshare Nigerian, an online finance and economy portal, lamented the inequity in the distribution of spending in the budget.
He is particularly concerned that 72 per cent of the spending is earmarked for payment of salaries and wages to about 10 million workers or less than six per cent of the nation’s 174 million people.
Even under in the days of military, he lamented further, “capital expenditure never grew below 40 per cent of total budget… We just bloated the civil service with every manner of hangers’ on and political jobber.”
Mallam Garba Kurfi, Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Limited, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Lagos, that the Nigerian economy would not grow with the scant emphasis on capital expenditure.
Allocating a mere N1.1 trillion for capital expenditure is a child’s play, considering the nation’s huge infrastructure challenge, and that Nigeria needs capital expenditure for the economy to experience meaningful growth and development.
Sehinde Adenagbe, Managing Director, Standard Union Securities Limited, however expressed dissatisfaction with the late presentation of the budget, calling for quick passage of the budget, which he regarded as the “road map for economic activities”.
This, he said, would help companies in decision making on investment, since it is a pointer to the direction of the nation’s economy in the new year.
Harrison Owoh, Managing Director, HJ Trust & Investment Limited, also told NAN that the budget proposal failed to address critical sectors of the economy, and that it was indeed disheartening that bulk of the nation’s budget would be used for wage payment instead of capital projects.
He said that the Federal Government should be bothered about the sufferings of the masses and ensure the provision of basic social amenities.
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i weep for this beloved counytry