It is that time of the year when political rhetoric is at its highest and politicians are selling themselves as the messiahs who will save Nigeria’s troubled economy. The economy is in real trouble, the naira has been devalued and stocks are tanking. Promises of better prudence in the management of the economy have become refrains among politicians. The 2015 budget is also a talking point. Nigeria is deep in a quandary brought upon it by the price of Crude and austerity may be the only ladder out. With unsold cargoes for December and low oil prices, the country’s financial prospect appears bleak.A quick peep into the books of the Federal Ministry of Works seems to beg questions. Capital allocation is slashed by 89.4 percent from N106.3bn in 2014 to N11.23bn in 2015; the ministry’s overhead is up from N19.77bn to N20.7bn. Given that the Ministry of Works has fewer projects to oversee, why is its overhead costs rising? Why is a ministry, whose output is expected to be N11.23bn (as Capital Allocation) with N28.35bn (made up of Personnel costs of N7.64bn and Overheads worth N20.7bn) given that amount as overhead? Many will question why the Presidency is spending N174.19m to purchase canteen and kitchen equipment, yet the Akure-Ilesha Road gets a lesser N125m for its construction? Road users won’t mind the allocation though, given that many roads in need of repairs are getting absolutely no allocation. The Nigerian Army is taking a cut in its overhead cost from the 2014 level of N10.7bn to N7.85bn. Also, the Nigerian Police Formations and Command overhead cost is down from N8.49bn in 2014 to N5.895bn today. The Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as the Federal Fire Service – all are taking cuts. Interestingly enough, the Nigeria Police Formations and Command has a capital budget of N17bn (If the 2015 budget is anything to go by) while the Nigerian Army will run with a Capital budget of N5.22bn. Many will also question why the Presidency plans to spend N1.92bn on travels in an austerity year. Why will N56.58m be spent on the procurement of crested crockery (plates and spoons) by the Presidency? Why spend N61.03m on household and catering equipment and make available N387.11bn for Capital Expenditure, which is 9% of the entire expenditure? Can’t the N826.69m the presidency is spending to upgrade the villa’s facilities wait till next year? The budget seems to be tougher on the working poor and have-nots. We are already running short of revenue targets as the oil price at $46 per barrel is already well below the benchmark price. Unfortunately some should be piercing the bubble while others will resort to prayers hoping for a miracle.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 06:48:46 +0000
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