Federal allocations to lawmakers, judges, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and seven others is set to increase by 39.66 percent in 2024 to N1.38tn, an analysis of the 2024 budget proposal has shown.

This is as the Federal Government increased statutory transfers from N985.49bn in 2023 to N1.38tn in 2024, according to data from the breakdown and highlights of the 2024 Executive Budget Proposal.

In 2024, statutory transfers, which are payments made to government institutions required by law to receive their funding first from the federation account before others, will gulp 13.45 percent of the total non-debt recurrent expenditure of N10.26tn the government intends to spend in 2024.

So far (January to September), the Federal Government has spent N711.36bn on these transfers, which is 15.04 percent of its total non-debt recurrent spend.

The breakdown for statutory transfers in 2024 is as follows National Judicial Council (N165bn), Niger-Delta Development Commission (N324.85bn), Universal Basic Education Commission (N251.47bn), National Assembly (N197.93bn), Public Complaints Commission (N13.69bn), Independent National Electoral Commission (N40bn), National Human Rights Commission (N5bn), North-East Development Commission (N126.94bn), Basic Health Care Provision Fund (N125.74bn), and National Agency For Science And Engineering Infrastructure (N125.74bn).

The amount to be spent on these agencies is 3.76 percent more than the amount allocated for health (N1.33tn) and 4.55 percent more than the N1.32tn allocated for infrastructure.

The rise in the cost of servicing these agencies is despite a declining macroeconomic environment punctuated by the pains of citizens and declining government revenues. It also underscores the high costs of governance in the country.
While presenting the details of the budget last week, the Minister of Finance and Budget Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, noted that the government was bothered about its declining revenues.

He said, “Revenue generation remains the major fiscal constraint to Nigeria’s fiscal viability. However, the government is reviewing current tax and fiscal policies with a view to improving revenue generation. The target is to increase the ratio of revenue to GDP from less than 10 percent currently to 18 percent within the current term of this administration.”

He highlighted that the budget was prepared against the backdrop of continuing global and domestic challenges, with increasing fiscal risks following weaker-than-expected domestic economic performance and structural issues in the domestic economy.

Meanwhile, the Presidency and Secretary to the Government of the Federation will get N186.12bn for salaries and other recurrent expenditures. This is a 6.46 percent decline from the N198.14 budgeted for both agencies in 2023.

The total budget for 2024 is N27.5tn with the lion’s share going to defense and security, education, and infrastructure.

While presenting his budget to a joint session of the National Assembly, President Bola Tinubu, disclosed that the Federal Government would have limited resources to fund its budget and intends to explore Public Private Partnership arrangements to finance most of its infrastructure projects.

He stated, “In view of the limited resources available through the federal budget, we are also exploring Public Private Partnership arrangements to finance critical infrastructure.

“We, therefore, invite the private sector to partner with us to ensure that our fiscal, trade, and monetary policies, as well as our developmental programs and projects, succeed in unlocking the latent potential of our people and other natural endowments, in line with our national aspirations.”