A prominent civic-tech organisation promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance, BudgIT, has raised significant concerns over the Federal Government’s 2025 Budget, describing its formulation as legally questionable and lacking adequate disclosure, particularly regarding its revenue framework.
However, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu, disclosed how the commission blocked the diversion of approximately N1.6 billion from government coffers through the deployment of technology-based interventions.
The Presidency initially submitted a proposed expenditure of N47.9 trillion, which President Bola Tinubu later reviewed to N54.2 trillion through a presidential letter citing increased revenue expectations.
The National Assembly further increased this figure to N54.9 trillion, without publishing any accompanying macroeconomic or fiscal analysis to justify the addition.
According to BudgIT, the changes fall short of the requirements of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2007, which mandates that aggregate expenditure must not exceed estimated aggregate revenue plus a deficit of no more than three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Based on the Budget Office’s GDP projection of N338 trillion, total spending should not have surpassed N51.95 trillion. The appropriation exceeds that limit by more than N3 trillion, raising concerns about fiscal discipline and legal compliance.
BudgIT’s Group Head of Research and Policy Advisory, Vahyala Kwaga, stressed that the patterns signalled a regression from the standards of FRA that Nigeria has worked to establish over the past decade.
BudgIT, therefore, called on the Presidency to uphold the principles of transparency, due process, and legal compliance in the management of public funds.
ALIYU made this disclosure during a courtesy visit by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Khalil Halilu, and his team to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He called on NASENI to design innovative technologies to aid the fight against corruption, assuring the agency of ICPC’s willingness to collaborate in this effort. He offered the commission’s support in further promoting transparency and accountability within NASENI through the strengthening of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) in the agency.
To solidify the collaboration, Aliyu proposed the creation of a Joint Innovation Task Team (JITT) to identify priority areas for joint action and ensure the sustainability of the partnership through consistent engagement and then the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Halilu expressed his commitment to deepening the agency’s collaboration with the ICPC, emphasising the importance of digitalising operational processes to prevent issues such as document leakage and pledged NASENI’s readiness to share its technical expertise with the commission.
Source: The Guardian
