It was reported that budget presentation, which was earlier slated to hold on Tuesday, Dec 17 was shifted to Wednesday 18 Dec.

It was also reported that all business operators and ancillary service providers like banks and food vendors have been told not to open for business by the management of the complex, given the budget presentation.

Visitors and non-essential staff, members of the National Assembly have also been told to stay at home till after the presentation of the budget.

It was reported that very few members of staff on essential duty officers with accreditation tags and a few journalists are being allowed to gain entrance into the complex.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio is expected to preside over the joint session along side Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen.

The budget presentation will be Tinubu’s second budget estimates to the National Assembly having assumed office on May 29 2023.

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Speaking at the ceremony, Ganduje said that the budget tagged ‘Budget for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development’ will focus on education and infrastructure development.

He said that N74 billion of the budget was for capital expenditure, representing 55.5 per cent, while N72.2 billion was for recurrent expenditure, representing over 40 per cent.

Ganduje said that the total recurrent revenue for the state for 2021 was estimated at N106 billion.

He said that the amount included N24 billion Internally Generated Revenue(IGR), N52 billion from federation account and N28 billion Value Added Tax (VAT).

According to Ganduje, over N37.8 billion, representing 25 per cent of the budget is allocated to the education sector, while N11.8 billion is allocated to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.

He said N25.5 billion was allocated to the health sector, while the Ministry of Environment was allocated N1.1 billion.

“We proposed N2.5 billion for the information sector, over N9 billion for water resources, N5.2 billion for judiciary, while religious affairs was allocated N557 billion.

“The budget reflects our vision for diversification of sources of revenue with a view to laying solid foundation that will guide the administration to pursue its development objectives.

“Also to enable us built on our operational principles, aspirations and priorities geared towards the continued leadership position of the state,” he said.

Alhaji Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa, Speaker of the house, promised that the lawmakers would speedily consider and pass the budget.

He, however, said that the lawmakers would properly scrutinise the budget and follow due process before its passage.

The speaker pledged that the house would continue to work together with the executive for the development of the state.

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Rep Simon Adejare, the Deputy Chairman of the committee who presided over the budget defence, said this on Tuesday in Abuja.

The committee also chided the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) for failing to break down its budget request, thereby prompting the committee to ask its National Coordinator to rework and submit it on Oct. 28.

Adejare said that the committee would not pass the ICOH budget until it visited the centre, adding that there must be enough commitment to show that there was enough justification to pass the centre’s 2021 budget.

Adejare questioned why ICOH’s revenue was grossly inadequate compared to its expenditure, adding that the committee must embark on an oversight visit before it would consider approval for its budget.

Dr Sani Balarabe, the Director-General (D-G) of the centre, said that it generated N10 million revenue in 2020, adding that its overhead cost was N12 million with 24 staff.

“Most of our budget are ongoing and they are mostly structure, we are expecting a large number of staff, we need to purchase vehicles, we have N4 million for electricity among others.

He said that the centre needed its budget to move up to accommodate 321 new staff.

He said that the centre was also planning to recruit as approved by the head of service of the federation.

He said the centre was not established for the purpose of generating revenue but to provide service for the citizenry, stressing that the N10 million revenue was due to the ingenuity of the former D-G.

Also, Dr OJ Amedu of NBTS said it had maintained its vision of providing safe, quality blood for all Nigerians, adding that NBTS currently has 17 centres across the country and most of them in sorry state.

According to him, the Maiduguri and Abeokuta centres, he visited recently, are in a sorry situation and need quick intervention to fix them.

He said that the NBTS had about 458 staff members across the country and had generated N130 million as IGR, adding that it hoped to surpass its current revenue in 2021.

Amedu said that there was the need for its activities to be properly guided, adding that failure to do that could result in trouble.

According to him, NBTS will generate revenue for the country when it invests in blood transfusion and will also provide employment for the people, so it needs a special intervention fund to do this.

The chairman of the committee, however, gave the coordinator time to break down his budget following some irreconcilable differences in his presentation.

“You have to go back, adjust your budget and see the chairman tomorrow with corrected version,” he said.

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A renowned scholar and economist, Dr Abdulmaji Jamal encapsulated this optimism in an interview with our reporter in Bauchi on Thursday and described the estimate as realistic.

He explained that the benchmark of N379 to a dollar as envisaged by the estimate was reasonable, considering the nation’s dwindling oil revenue which may appreciate or indicate otherwise.

He said the 11.9 per cent inflation target of the expected annual expenditure was also reasonable.

“But we must expect a significant reduction in the prices of consumables especially foodstuff,” he said.

In the same vein, Malam Dauda Mohammed, a civil servant expressed optimism that the price of oil in the international market would appreciate and the budget target could be achieved as envisaged or even better.

He added that the budget which was projected at the N 4.4 trillion deficit would definitely see the light of the day through exploiting the various existing revenue sources and blocking of leakages.

Also, Mr Alhassan Ibrahim, a businessman lauded the president for such an ambitious budgetary allocation.

He said that the N420 billion and the N20 billion earmarked for the social investment and housing programmes would likely generate employment and provide sufficiency in shelter.

Ibrahim, however, called on the government to ensure full implementation of the budget while calling on the national assembly to ensure speedy and timely passage of the budget into law for development.

NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2021 budget estimate before a joint session of the national assembly for their consideration and subsequent approval.

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Our reporter reports that the president, who was accompanied by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, some cabinet members and presidential aides, arrived the premises of NASS at about 11.03p.m.

He explained that the total aggregate revenue projected for the 2021 budget was N7.86 trillion with a deficit of N5.2 trillion, representing 3.4 per cent of the GDP.

He said the deficit would be financed mainly by new borrowing, totalling N4.28trillion.

Buhari stated that the total revenue available to fund the 2021 federal budget was estimated to N7.886trillion which included grants and aids of N354.85billion as well as revenues of 60 government owned enterprises.

According to him, the budget, which is described as a budget for Economic Recovery and Resilience, is based on an estimated oil price benchmark of 40dollars per barrel, daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels (inclusive of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day) and an exchange rate of N379 per dollar.

“Based on the foregoing fiscal assumptions and parameters, total federally distributable revenue is estimated at N8.433 trillion in 2021. Total revenue available to fund the 2021 Federal Budget is estimated at N7.886 trillion.

“This includes Grants and Aid of N354.85 billion as well as the revenues of 60 government-owned Enterprises.

According to him, oil revenue is projected at N2.01 trillion and non-oil revenue is estimated at N1.49 trillion.

“As you will observe, the format of the 2021 Appropriation Bill has been

modified to include budgeted revenues, no matter how small, for each MDA, to focus on internal revenue generation.

“Accordingly, I implore you to pay as much attention to the revenue side as you do to the expenditure side.

He stated that N3.12trillion had been earmarked for debt servicing in 2021 as against N2.1trillion in 2020

The president, who reviewed the performance of the 2020 budget so far, said the budget was amended in response to the challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As at July 2020, the Federal Government’s actual revenue available for the budget was N2.10 trillion.

“This revenue performance was only 68 percent of our pro-rated target in the revised 2020 budget.

“At N992.45 billion, oil revenue performed well above our budget target, by 168 per cent. Non-oil tax revenues totalled N692.83 billion, which was 73 percent of the revised target.”

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The Speaker said this on Wednesday in Abuja while reading a letter of the proposed budget presentation from the president to members at plenary.

Our correspondent reports that Buhari will on Oct. 8, present the 2021 appropriation bill to the joint session of the National Assembly at 11.00 am with full compliance to COVID-19 protocol.

Gbajabiamila said that members would be mandated to wear their face masks as part of compliance to COVID-19 protocol.

The speaker said that an abridged version of the budget would be presented by the President so that everything could be done within one hour.

He said that both the chairman of the National Assembly and President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, and he would also present abridged versions of their speeches.

This according to him is to reduce the time during the presentation as COVID-19 did not allow crowded environment.

According to him, the budget presentation will not be the usual annual presentation; it will be abridged because of the need to comply with COVID-19 guidelines.

He also said that there would be room for social distancing as members would be allowed to sit in the gallery.
Gbajabiamila said that the presentation is expected to begin at 11.00 am.

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Prince-Abbi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Espera Global Corporation, said this in an interview with our reporter in Lagos, while reacting to 2021 budget proposal.

He said that government should put in place tough monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure budget performance.

He noted that previous budget performance assessments had not been impressive.

Prince-Abbi added that government needed to apply more drastic measures to prevent a repeat of past experiences in the 2021 fiscal year.

He said that revenue generating agencies must be compelled to perform optimally on their revenue target deliverables.

“Over the years, taking for instance 2015 to 2020, performances on both oil revenue and non-oil revenue projections have shown disturbing disparities.

“I think we need to put in place measures, strategic and operational frameworks which can help to bridge the gap and stem the persisting dissonance between budget making and budget performance.

“The Federal Government needs to apply more drastic measures to prevent this in the 2021 fiscal year.

“Also, revenue generating agencies must be compelled to perform optimally on their revenue deliverables. These are no times for business-as- usual,” Prince-Abbi said.

He also called on government to contain recurrent expenditure and increase budgetary allocation to capital expenditure to accelerate economic growth.

“Recurrent expenditure must be put on progressive containment in order to release the much needed revenues to address capital expenditure in priority areas.

“This will strengthen macroeconomic resilience while building and accelerating economic growth.

“One of the fundamental draw-backs in Nigerian government budget making is in the area of capital expenditure share of the budget.

“In the first budget, namely the 2016 budget prepared by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, bold actions were taken to strengthen the percentage of capital expenditure (CAPEX).

“CAPEX represented 30 per cent of the total budget. The President promised to continue to raise the percentage allocation for capital expenditure in future years.

“The government kept this promise, though very modestly. For instance, capital expenditure plan for 2017 was 30.7 per cent and 2018 was 30.8 per cent.

“However, in the 2019 budget, capital expenditure plan fell back to 30 per cent and in 2020 it fell further to 24 per cent, and now in the proposed 2021 budget, it is 29 per cent.

“While being an improvement on the CAPEX spend of 2020, it is still a poor showing as far as the need for better quality aggregate spending is concerned,” Prince-Abbi said.

He said that government should take deliberate measures and unrelenting steps in improving capital expenditure ratios and desist from pandering to the political expediencies of rising recurrent expenditure.

“With a strategy to move much-needed revenues to the capital expenditure side, government should come down heavily on all existing and potential areas which sadly drive unwholesome acceleration in recurrent expenditure,” he added.

Our correspondent reports that the Federal Executive Council recently approved N13.08 trillion budget proposal for 2021 fiscal year.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the budget estimate was made up of N2.083 trillion capital expenditure, which she described as 29 per cent of the total budget.

According to her, the budget proposal is predicated on N379/$ exchange rate, oil benchmark of $40 per barrel, oil production volume of 1.86 million barrels per day, including 400,000 condensate, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of three per cent and 11.95 per cent inflation rate.

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The Lagos State House of Assembly had on Monday, after consideration, passed the slightly adjusted budget size for governor’s assent into law.

Speaking during the signing ceremony at the State House, Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu said that Lagos residents would experience a strong and prosperous economy in 2020.

He said that the early passage of the budget by the House of Assembly showed that the state was indeed working.

”Each one of us can do our work independently, and do it without fear or favour. But at the end of the day, we will all come out very well, we come out good, and we come out ensuring that we are serving Lagosians.

”I think the work has just started, because this will be our very first budget to demonstrate our capacity and our competence to be able to take the narrative of our Lagos forward.

”This is the biggest budget. The House has actually extended N1 trillion budget before, but it’s not N1.168 trillion. So, this is actually very audacious.

”I can assure you that my colleagues are well suited and they are fired up to ensure that we perform on this budget, almost 100 per cent.

”We are actually targeting to do well above 92 per cent and track it to 100 per cent, that is the only way we can make the House of Assembly and Lagosians be happy with us,” the governor said.

He said that his administration would ensure that the budget was implemented with transparency and accountability.

According to him, the budget will ensure that it serves the interest of the greatest number and that it will bring about ensuring better quality of life.

L-R: Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; the Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN) and Chairman of the House Committee on Economic Planning and Budget, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, during the signing of the Y2020 Budget into Law at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday.

The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said that the executive did a thorough job, as the budget did not give the Assembly much trouble.

Obasa said that the budget was a budget for all, as it touched all the sectors and every individual had something to get out of it.

”So, it really gladdens our hearts to give every support to see that this budget sees the light of the day.

”As I said when Mr Governor presented the budget before the Assembly that it is going to be a New Year gift to Lagosians, and we are glad; we have been able to maintain that stand.

”Where I look forward to, most especially all the members of the executive council, is the area of the revenue. For whatever we have proposed, whatever we have agreed, for whatever we have given back into, we need this money to solve these purposes.

”And that means you have a lot to do. This will be the second time we have proposed N1 trillion budget and I think we want to make this the first time that we achieved that proposal.

”So, I am urging you all to make sure you rise up to your responsibilities and make sure that every leaking holes within the MDAs are blocked, so that we can achieve this,” he said.

The Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Gbolahan Yishawu, said that the Executive brought forth the 2020 budget in good time.

Yishawu said that the House Committee members worked round the clock to ensure the budget was passed in line with the directive of the Speaker.

”During the budget defence, members of the cabinet were cooperative and provided required insights that led to the speedy completion of the work,” he said.

The chairman said that the details of the budget spoke to the developmental agenda of the governor.

The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube, said that the speedy passage of the budget was not without challenges and disagreements.

Egube said that the acceleration of the process indicated cooperation and smooth working relationship between the executive and the legislature.

He said that the signing of the budget set the tone on how the government would be driven in 2020.

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To achieve the target date, Lawan, during plenary mandated the Senate Committee on Appropriations, to submit its report on the 2020 Budget proposal on Nov. 26.

He said that the committee’s compliance with the presentation of its report on Nov. 26, would facilitate the passage of the 2020 Budget on Nov. 28, before the National Assembly would proceed on Christmas break.

He said: “On the Budget 2020 we are working on, the ball is now in the court of Senate Committee on Appropriations, the last committee standing.

“All the committees have done their work so well within the defined parameters and we, therefore, expect the Appropriations Committee to produce the report and lay it here by Nov. 26, the next two weeks.

“I believe that the same thing will be done in our sister chamber, the House of Representatives, so that we are able to pass the Appropriation Bill 2020 on the Nov. 28, by the Grace of God.”

Meanwhile, a total of 12 bills scaled first reading on the floor on Tuesday.

The bills are: National Religious Equity Commission (Est.) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen. Stella Oduah; Constituency Development Fund (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Ali Ndume and the National Agency for Technology Incubation (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Ajayi Boroffice.

Others are National War College Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Aliyu Wamakko; Compulsory Free Universal Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Rose Oko, and Private Security and Forensic Investigation Bureau of Nigeria (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Barinanda Mpigi.

Others include, Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Betty Apiafi; Federal University of Agriculture and Technology Funtua (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Bello Mandiya and Federal College of Education (Technical) Kaima, Kwara State (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Sadiq Umar.

Also, Federal University of Gashua (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi; Federal Medical Centre Dekina, by Sen. Jibrin Isah, and National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi.

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Buhari, who addressed the joint session of NASS at about, 2.03p.m., unveiled a budget of N10.33 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year.

The Federal Executive Council had proposed N10.007 trillion for the financial year but the figure was increased to N10.33 trillion by the National Assembly.

The president said the 2020 budget was designed to be a budget of “Fiscal consolidation to strengthen our macroeconomic environment; Investing in critical infrastructure, human capital development and enabling institutions, especially in key job creating sectors.’’

He added that the budget was meant for “Incentivising private sector investment essential to complement the government’s development plans, policies and programmes; and enhancing our social investment programmes to further deepen their impact on those marginalised and most vulnerable Nigerians.”

According to him, the total Federal Government revenue in 2020 is N8.155trillion comprising oil revenue of N2.64 trillion, non-oil tax revenues of N1.81 trillion and other revenue of N3.7trillion.

“This is seven per cent higher than the 2019 comparative estimate of N7.594 trillion inclusive of the Government Owned Enterprises,’’ he said.

The president said non-debt recurrent expenditure include N3.6 trillion for personnel and pension costs, an increase of N620.28 over the 2019 fiscal year figure.

“This increase reflects the new minimum wage as well as our proposals to improve remuneration and welfare of our police and armed forces,’’ he said.

He disclosed that N2.46 trillion was earmarked for capital projects, inclusive of N318.06 billion in statutory transfers.

Other estimates are N556.7 billion for statutory transfers; N2.45 trillion for debt servicing and provision of N296 billion as sinking fund.

He explained that the sinking fund would be used to “retire maturing bonds to local contractors”.

The 2020 budget is based on an oil production estimate of 2.18 million barrels per day, oil price benchmark of 57 dollars per barrel and an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar.

Other benchmarks are: real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growth rate of 2.93 per cent while inflation rate “is expected to remain slightly above single digits in 2020’’

On sectoral allocation, the president said the Ministry of Interior would get N35 billion as against N569 billion in 2019, Defence (N100 billion), Education (N48 billion) and Health (N46 billion) for some key spending

He noted with delight the continued recovery of the nation’s economy as well as the increase in the foreign reserve from 23 billion dollars in 2016 to N42.5 billion dollars in August.

“This increase is largely due to favourable prices of crude oil in the international market, minimal disruption of crude oil production given the stable security in the Niger Delta region and our import substitution drive, especially in key commodities,’’ he explained.

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