Budget 2021: What Nigerians Need To Know …More than N10 trillion Budgeted for personal non developmental gains

Recommendations:

*Federal Government should increase salary and wages in the budget by 25%.

*Used 10% to scale up the salary and wages of existing staff.*Used the remaining 15% to create new employment.

*Reduced Payment of special allowance under personnel expenditure by 85%.

*Reduced Overhead cost by 70%.

The budget office of the federation on Saturday released the details and the breakdown of the N13.08 trillion President Muhammadu Buhari intend to spend in the year 2021.

A careful analysis of the breakdown shows the problem in the budget is not salary and wages as many people wrongly believe.

The budget is entirely wrong with two major expenditure, the special allowance tagged in the budget as allowance and social contribution under personnel cost heading and the overhead cost.

The social contribution with its little sum is insurance payment for staff which the federal government adequately budgeted for.

The special allowance and the overhead cost are expenses that can be controlled and avoided most especially with the current economic situation in the country.

These expenses account for more than 85 percent of the total recurrent expenditure the government intend to waste in 2021.

It is not a must that the president and other government workers must travel.

The government have a representative in every state and country around the world.

If they must do, all MDA starting from the president must reduce their special allowance and overhead cost by 85 and 70 percent respectively.

Overhead cost which is obvious in the budget is majorly a cost for local and foreign travels, buying of stationeries, vehicle repairs and miscellaneous expenses.

Buhari budgeted more than N4.147 trillion(N4,147,688,424,047) as Overhead cost. This is controllable and in some cases avoidable expenses.

Buhari also budgeted more than N4.317 trillion(N4,317,808,458,490) as personnel cost with the payment of special allowances representing more than 75 percent.

To be clearly stated, Buhari budgeted N47.2 million (N47,214,061) as salary and wages for presidential air fleet staff. Budgeted huge sum of N392.792 million(N392,792,701) as special allowance for the same staff. Annoyingly, the presidential air fleet will use N3.934 billion (N3,934,390,091) as overhead cost.

This is separate from the N8 billion the president budgeted in the capital expenditure for the repairs and upgrading of aircraft in the presidential air fleet.

EFCC have N9.832 billion (N9,832,964,046) as salary and wages, N14.574 billion(N14,574,595,929) as special allowance and N3.600 billion overhead cost.

National assembly will spend N128 billion as salary and wages. This is shocking. It means Buhari intend to spend N22.234 million monthly per lawmaker in 2021. Corruption cannot fight corruption.

Ministry of Defence and Defence Headquarters will spend N12.128 billion as salary and wages, N36 billion as special allowance and N21.795 billion overhead cost.

Nigerian Army to spend N133.208 billion as salary and wages, N327.749 billion as special allowance and N20.634 billion as Overhead cost.

Nigerian Navy and Nigerian AirForce will spend N61 billion as salary and wages, N144.5 billion as special allowance and N20 billion overhead cost.

Technical AIDS Corps will spend N20.539 million as salary and wages, huge amount of N3.452 billion as special allowance and N316.288 million overhead cost.

National Security Adviser to spend N1.757 billion as salary and wages, N6.658 billion as special allowance and N11.482 billion overhead cost.

The N3.267 trillion President Buhari budgeted for capital expenditure is more of recurrent expenditure in nature.

The Budget Office shows the capital budget is majorly for the repairs, maintenance of official vehicles and aircraft, renovation of offices and residential buildings and the beautification of cemeteries across the geopolitical zones for Nigerian soldiers.

We don’t need to borrow in 2021.

All the Federal government need to do is to control cost and do away with avoidable expenses.

This, Nigeria economy will appreciate for good. The government will be able to create new employment and reduce the high cost of living in the country.

Full text of 2021 Budget breakdown is attached.https://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/index.php/2021-fgn-executive-proposalhttps://www.budgetoffice.gov.ng/index.php/2021-fgn-executive-proposal