Budget: Outrage over trillions squandered by states on personal items

The governments of the 36 states of the federation are in the eye of the storm over allegations of squandering public funds running into trillions of naira on frivolous items within nine months.

This follows the emergence of a report that the 36 states of the federation squandered N1.71trillion on non personnel recurrent expenditures, including bulletproof vehicles, meals, allowances, office stationery, aircraft maintenance, foreign trips, retreats, trainings, workshops and several frivolous items from January to September 2023.

Citizens anger, Business Hallmark findings revealed, is exacerbated by the realization that while hapless Nigerians going through daily hunger and hardship brought about by government policies are constantly advised to persevere, public officials at the states level, especially the political class, were busy feasting on their states commonwealth.

According to data mined from the website of Open Budget System (OBS), a Budgit Foundation initiative meant to break the age-long secrecy and opacity in governments budgeting and spendings, all the 36 states of the federation cumulatively spend N4.59trillion, made up of debt payments and capital and recurrent expenditures from January to September 2023.

Out of the N4.59trillion combined budget, the 36 states combined spent a humongous N2.52 trillion on recurrent expenditures, about 51 percent of the 36 combined 2023 budgets.

Out of the amount, civil servants and political office holders salaries amounted to N802.43billion, about one third of the total recurrent expenditures.

Meanwhile, spendings on other items such as entertainment, foodstuffs and honorarium; sitting allowance; wardrobe allowances; electricity and telephone bills; domestic and foreign trips by government officials; internet access fees; aircraft maintenance; toiletries; stationeries, luxury/bulletproof vehicles, among many other items, made up the remaining balance of N1.71trillion.

Thirty out of the 36 states of the federation also disbursed N87.45billion as security votes in the period under review.

A state by state analysis of non-salary spendings in the highest order showed that Lagos’s non-salary spendings on items like meal, refreshment, entertainment, wardrobe allowance, social benefits, pension, gratuity, internet access charge, telephone charges, local and international travels, office stationeries, maintenance services, fuel, official vehicles, donations, miscellaneous expenses, and others totaled N289.49 billion, followed by Delta with a non-salary spending of N152.15billion.

Others are Akwa Ibom N92.54bIllion (January to June); Bauchi N70.25billion; Ondo N59.70billion; Imo N58.21billion; Kogi N58.02billion; Rivers N51.96billion (Q1 and Q2); Jigawa N49.64billion; Ogun N49.27billion (Q1 and Q2); Cross Rivers N43.71billion; Osun N42.59billion; Edo N41.11billion and Adamawa N40.90billion.

Others are Kwara N41.19billion; Katsina N40.49billion; Benue N34.44billion; Enugu N33.36billion; Borno N32.63billion; Ekiti N31.33billion (January to June); Ebonyi N30.91billion; Zamfara N29.14billion; Nasarawa N28.13billion; Kaduna N27.87billion; Gombe N24.73bn (Q1 and Q2); Oyo N24.52billion and Kebbi State N24.51billion.

Also on the list are Yobe N25.07billion (Q1 and Q2, 2023); Taraba N24.73billion; Niger N23.43billion (Q1 and Q2); Sokoto N20.89billion; Kano N17.79billion (Q1 and Q2); Abia N17.61billion; Anambra N15.17billion and lastly Plateau, which utilized N7.99billion on non-salary spendings in half year 2023.

In order to provide for their wasteful appetites, which their FAAC allocations and meagre Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs) could not cover, state governments increased their borrowing in the period under review to N988.48billion.

As a result, 29 out of the 36 states presently owe financial institutions and other government enterprises N536.01billion.

Meanwhile, short and long-term borrowings from multilateral institutions such as Afrexim Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, among other lenders by 33 states increased to N452.47billion.

It would be recalled that states governments have recently come under increased scrutiny over their philandering of public funds on costly items described by many Nigerians as unnecessary and adding no value to their states.

The appetite for luxurious and largely non-essential items by public office holders in the midst of a severe revenue crisis and economic hardship in the country has led to many concerned stakeholders and economic experts expressing fears of a possible collapse of most states’ fragile economies.

For instance, the candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the March 11 governorship poll in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, recently took the Lagos State Government to the cleaners in a public letter written to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, after examining the state’s procurement portal online.

The shocked Doherty flagged some projects awarded for the second and third quarters of 2023, describing them as frivolous.

“I just wrote an open letter to the Governor on Public Procurement awards reported by LASG for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023, highlighting a number of issues for further scrutiny and remedial action.

“Judicious use of public funds is always important, and is, especially so now”, the ADC candidate in the February 25th governorship election said in a tweet he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Doherty said in the letter to Governor Sanwo-Olu that he noted that N18,468,000 was awarded to the office of the Chief of staff for the supply and distribution of 2,000 brioiler chicken across the local government areas and wards in the state.

According to him, another sum of N440,750,000 was awarded to the office of the Chief of staff for the procurement of a brand new Lexus LX 600 Bullet Proof Sport Utility Vehicle for use in the Pool Office of the Chief of Staff.

Also flagged by the ADC candidate is the provision of supply items (Rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridge) in the office of the deputy governor awarded to Judkom Enterprises in July, 2023 at the sum of N2bn, as well as the award for the “replacement of the liquid fragrance in the Office of Mr. Governor, Lagos House, Ikeja at the sum of N7,475,000.

Doherty’s revelation caused an uproar across the state, with many Lagosians demanding answers.

In its response, the Lagos State Government through the Office of Public Procurement Agency, denied any illegal spending in the documents shared by Doherty, calling him a mischief maker.

The Director General, Lagos State Office of Public Procurement, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onofowote, in a rebuttal letter made available to BH, accused Doherty of misrepresenting the facts in the information contained in the documents he posted.

“Our attention has been drawn to recent concerns regarding certain information posted on the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency’s website.

“Acknowledging the misunderstanding arising from the lack of clarity, we recognise the unintended misinterpretations of this information.

“The agency is committed to ensuring transparency, accuracy and accountability in all the government transactions, as mandated by the Lagos State Public Procurement Law.

“We regret that specific details, particularly concerning the descriptions of government dealings, may have inadvertently led to confusion, impacting both governmental entities and corporate partners providing services to the state.

“This arose largely from the lack of detailed descriptions in the project information, which has inadvertently led to confusion in the public space.

“We empathise with public concerns and extend our sincere apologies for any distress caused. It is never our intent to cast doubt or cause misunderstandings that might tarnish the reputation of respected individuals and organisations involved in these transactions.

“To address these concerns thoroughly, the agency has taken immediate steps. Line-by-line explanations of the contracts in question are attached herewith, aiming to provide absolute clarity and dispel any lingering misconceptions.’

“The agency will continue to improve its internal processes and communication methods as our commitment as a government is to offer clearer and more accessible information to the public.

“It is pivotal to stress that the agency’s autonomy exists to ensure fairness and transparency, not to cause confusion or discredit any involved parties.

”We, therefore, assure the public of our unwavering dedication to upholding the highest standards of integrity in all our operations. Looking ahead, we pledge our continued commitment to consistently and accurately report all government transactions in the state”, Onofowote stated in the response.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail state governments wasteful spendings in the midst of economic hardship ravaging the country.

According to an Anglican Church priest, Rev. Paul Abayomi, Nigerians are being made to swallow the poison pill of austerity measures by their leaders while they (leaders) are busy indulging in debauchery.

“While they are busy cutting down on public spendings on items that benefit the masses, they have refused to cut down on their own spendings.

“Every day, we hear them (government officials) either traveling abroad for workshops or business trips that bring nothing positive to their people, or buying expensive vehicles for themselves.

“Meanwhile, they advise Nigerians to exercise patience until the situation improves, an advice they themselves are not following.

“What is currently going on in the country is what George Orwell portrayed in his famous book, the ‘Animal Farm’, where some animals are greater than the others.

“No doubt, some people are greater than others in Nigeria. Or how will you describe a situation where a bulletproof car worth over N400billion is purchased for just one person, while most Nigerians cannot afford two decent meals a day?”, the Anglican Church priest queried.

Also speaking, a development economist, Dr. Aliyu Ilias, said the Federal and states governments are digging themselves into more trouble with their uncontrollable appetites for loans to finance recurrent expenditures.

“With the current hardship we have in the country, they (states) may not have an alternative than to resort to borrowing.

“But borrowing to pay salaries is becoming a problem. We must stop borrowing for recurrent expenditure.

“We can borrow for capital expenditure; that is okay. The consequence is that we are digging ourselves into more trouble”, Ilias warned.

A state by state analysis of non-salary spendings in the highest order showed that Lagos’s non-salary spendings on items like meal, refreshment, entertainment, wardrobe allowance, social benefits, pension, gratuity, internet access charge, telephone charges, local and international travels, office stationeries, maintenance services, fuel, official vehicles, donations, miscellaneous expenses, and others:

State. Amount(bn)

1). Lagos N289.49 bn

2). Delta N152.15

3). A/Ibom. N92.54.

4). Bauchi N70.25

5). Ondo. N59.70

6). Imo N58.21

7). Kogi N58.02

8).Rivers N51.96

9). Jigawa N49.64

10). Ogun N49.27

11). C/Rivers. N43.71

12). Osun N42.59

13). Edo. N41.11

14). Adamawa N40.90

15). Kwara N41.19b

16). Katsina. N40.49

17). Benue N34.44

18). Enugu. N33.3

19). Borno N32.63

20). Ekiti N31.33

21). Ebonyi N30.91

22). Zamfara N29.14

23). Nasarawa N27.87

25). Gombe. N24.73

26). Oyo N24.52bi

27). Kebbi. N24.51

28). Yobe N25.07bill

29). Taraba. N24.73

30). Niger N23.43

31). Sokoto N20.8,9

32). Kano N17.79

33). Abia N17.61

34). Anambra N15.17

35).Plateau,. N7.99