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Looting: FG wastes trillions on  recurring allocations

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JUST IN: National Assembly passes 54.9trn 2025 budget into law

– Computers, vehicles, travels, others top abused items in budgets

Successive administration’s huge and uncontrollable appetite for recurrent spendings is currently driving the nation into the abyss with the national and sub-national governments daily sinking into debt to accommodate their wasteful cravings, Business Hallmark’s findings have revealed.

Despite shrinking revenues and strong headwinds buffeting the economy, succeeding administrations, in their quest to satisfy the ego of top public officials and accommodate their opulent and extravagant lifestyles, year after year, insert unsustainable projects into annual budgets through bogus and non-essential provisions, as well as repetitive carry-overs of line items from previous years budgets.

According to BH findings, the dubious practice of ‘envelope budgeting’ whereby new sums are simply added to preceding years’ spending headings and sub-headings instead of budgeting based on identified needs is still fully entrenched.

Also, checks revealed that Nigeria’s annual budgets since the advent of the nascent democracy on May 29, 1999, are short on capital spending, but largely made up of recurrent expenditures financed through debts.

Apart from being replete with the usual wasteful allocations to finance foreign travels, salaries, and allowances, purchase of foodstuffs and refreshments, renovation of offices and residential quarters of government dignitaries, and maintenance of their vehicles, they are also filled with items expected to last for certain numbers of years like furniture, stationery and kitchen equipment, computers, and facility maintenance that keep appearing every year.

An analysis of budgets approved by the National Assembly for government’s  Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) from 2020 to 2025 revealed that over 12  items have been recurring in their budgets with slight cost modifications.

For instance, in the budget proposals obtained by BH,  the item tagged ‘Purchase of Computers’ appeared 212 times, with more than 100 MDAs proposing to buy computers

Based on the proposals of 20 MDAs BH was able to analyse before going to press, the sum of N14, 261,940,152 (approximately N14.3billion) was budgeted for the purchase of computers in the proposed 2025 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

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Specifically, while the Ministry of Education alone budgeted N3,880,000,000 to purchase computers, the National Cybercrime Coordination Centre is planning to spend N2,735,000,000.

Other MDAs whose budgets for the purchase of computers are being reviewed by national lawmakers are the scrapped Ministry of Sports Development which has N1.1 billion, the newly created Ministry of Livestock Development N263, 391,743, Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy N525,183,402, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, N75 million and the Ministry of Transport, N70 million.

Likewise, the sum of N202 million is needed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for the purchase of computers, N220million for Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD), N836 million for the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), N836 million, N535 for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and N797,483, 350 for the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation,

The remaining agencies that submitted budgets for the purchase of computers in the 2025 budget are the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) N350 million, National Counter Terrorism Centre, N567.9 million; National Intelligence Agency Pension Board N250 million;  Federal Cooperative College Ibadan N450 million; Civil Defence, Immigration and Prison Service Board (CIPB) N164 million and the Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina N604.3 million.

Meanwhile, BH findings revealed that virtually all these MDAs had allocations for the ‘Purchase of Computers’ in the 2024 budget, with the item appearing in the budget documents 144 times.

In 2024, the sum of N14.39 billion was approved for the purchase of computers (laptops and desktops) in 100 MDAs, with another N28.369 billion approved for the acquisition of computer software by more than 90 MDAs.

Ironically, the same Ministry of Education that received the biggest allocation of N3.880billion in the 2025 budget for the purchase of computers, got N9.7billion in the 2024 budget to purchase the same item, fueling speculations that they are conduits to divert billions of naira.

While speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives at a recent hearing on the 2025 budget proposals, a member of the house, Hon. Bello Nasir El-Rufai, demanded a shift away from the current budget cycle where vehicles, furniture, and computers are purchased annually.

“Since I was a boy, the budget every year comes with new computers, and new furniture. These things don’t expire. We should cut them out totally.

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“We can’t be asking Nigerians to tighten their belts, we can’t have a tax reform bill that could shape this country while as leaders, we are not cutting anything.

“I urge the committee chairmen to look into this. Nigerians are tired of every agency buying forks and knives every year”, El-Rufai admonished.

Another drain on the nation’s scarce resources is the yearly allocation of funds for travel and refreshment expenses for the Presidency. In 2025, N9.36 billion has been allocated for domestic and international travel, as well as refreshments for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima.

According to a breakdown of the figures, while N7.44 billion was earmarked for President Tinubu’s travel expenses, including domestic and international trips, as well as refreshments, the sum of N1.9 billion was earmarked for the vice president for similar purposes.

Specifically, a significant N6.14 billion has been allocated for the president’s local and international travel,  N873.9 million for meals, and N431.6 million for catering supplies.

On the other hand, the vice president’s budget for travel is made up of N1.31 billion for international travel and N417.5 million for domestic travel. Meanwhile, Shettima’s refreshments, meals, and catering supplies will gulp N186.02 million in 2025.

In 2024, both President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima spent N10.13 billion on meals and travel. Likewise, Aso Rock Zoo received N201.4 million for the upkeep of the animals in its confines.

Also in 2024, the renovation of the president and vice president’s quarters at the State House gulped N800 million – N500 million for Tinubu and N300 million for Shettima.

Meanwhile, the sum of N13.5 billion had earlier been released for the renovation of  President Tinubu and his deputy’s official residences in Abuja and Lagos in the 2023 supplementary budget.

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In 2023, foodstuffs and refreshments for the Presidency cost the nation N508.71 million. While the office of the President consumed N331.79 million, that of his deputy his deputy totaled N176.92m.

Likewise, local and foreign trips for the president and his vice cost over N3 billion in 2223. While Tinubu’s office got N2.49 billion, the office of his deputy received the sum of N846.61 million.

The sums mentioned are outside the budget and expenses for the running and maintenance of the 10 aircraft in the Presidential fleet which runs into billions of naira.

The spending bazaar is expected to continue in 2025, with the Federal Government budgeting N7.65 billion for the purchase of State House vehicles in the proposed budget.

A breakdown of the figures showed that State House Headquarters, Abuja, will get the largest portion of the vehicle budget, smiling home with N4.76 billion.

Other allocations include N255.7 million for the president, N285 million for his chief of staff and the sum of N700 million for the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

In 2024, the Presidency had allocated N6.35 billion for vehicles at the State House Headquarters – N4 billion for operational vehicles and N2 billion for replacing SUVs –  with an additional N351 million released for tires for bulletproof vehicles and cars.

BH cheques showed that the spending binge spread across the three tiers of governments and their operating arms.

On December 14, 2025, President Tinubu approved mouth-watering allowances for officers of general rank who will be retiring after serving for 35 years.

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The allowances include the provision of a bulletproof SUV as a take-home gift to retiring generals, fully paid foreign medical treatment, a $20,000  estacode during foreign medical trips and stipends for the general’s cooks and house helps.

The gesture, financial experts argue, will further put pressure on Nigeria’s lean resources since it is not a one-off arrangement.

It would be recalled that the president had signed the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers and Enlisted Personnel in the Nigerian Armed Forces into law in December 2024.

BH checks revealed that the review had been in the pipeline since the tenure of the former administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The new Conditions of Service for Officers and Enlisted Personnel provide that the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, and other senior officers will get a bulletproof SUV or its equivalent as a retirement package.

The vehicle and backup vehicle will be replaced every four years and maintained by the Armed Forces.

Apart from this perk, retired generals will also enjoy a range of other luxurious benefits, including domestic aides and residential guards upon retirement.

For instance, Lieutenant Generals and their equivalents will be entitled to foreign medical treatment and $20,000 annually with the chief of Defence Staff expected to receive higher.

They will also be entitled to a Special Assistant or Personal Assistant, 3 military drivers, and a military orderly, with escorts provided by military units.

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Also, each retiring service chief is entitled to five domestic staff, comprising two cooks, two stewards, and a civilian gardener, along with an ADC/Security Officer.

Other officers below the rank are not left out in the sharing of the benefits. For instance, colonels and their equivalents will receive Toyota Corolla or its equivalent, as well as free medical care within Nigeria.

When the practice of rewarding retired service chiefs and generals and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force with mouth-watering benefits is not a new development, the new HTACOS, however, reviewed upward officers’ benefits in line with the prevailing socio-economic situation in the country.

Speaking to our correspondent on the matter, an economist, Dr. Peju Beckley, argued that Nigeria’s annual national budgets have failed to deliver progress as they only serve as instruments of legitimizing waste.

“It surprises me that some Nigerians expect the country to develop while a larger chunk of her resources is spent on unfruitful endeavours.

“While I am not against the government taking care of its workers, I think remuneration and perks should be commensurate with the work done.

“Why will a general or inspector general of police that could not secure even his hometown from bandits be continually compensated for failure?

“Why should political office holders who served for only four years in office or the maximum of eight years be placed on a lifetime pension and allowances, while those who worked for thirty years collect peanuts?

“Many of these officials like presidents and governors, apart from being paid regular pensions, get outrageous perks like grand houses in their country homes, Lagos and the FCT, or cities of their choice.

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“If you go to government ministries and offices across the country, you will find out that the buildings and staff are bigger than the population of the people they are to serve or jobs they are assigned to undertake.

“Have you gone to the headquarters of some government parastatals in Abuja like the CBN, NCC, the Ship House (Ministry of Defence), or NNPC Towers? They are too grandiose and a waste of resources. If I may ask, who are we trying to impress?

“Their monthly cost of maintaining these edifices alone will have put Nigeria on the path of prosperity and growth if it had been deployed into viable ventures.

“Sadly, despite the strong headwinds buffeting the economy and shrinking revenues, successive regimes have failed to imbibe the imperative of deploying budgets as effective instruments of development”, Beckley lamented.

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