October 22, (THEWILL) – The hallmarks of good governance are prudence, restraint and responsibility in managing public finances. However, the Nigerian Government has shown an unrestrained propensity for prodigality and wastefulness in its spending decisions. As Nigeria grapples with debilitating debt, depleted reserves, double-digit inflation and excruciating economic hardship for its citizens, governments continue to fritter away scarce resources on frivolous, inappropriate and outrageous luxuries.
This spendthrift culture pervades all arms and the tiers of government, but it is most egregious in the banal overindulgence of the Executive and the National Assembly for selfish use of public funds.
Last week, a government memo revealed that the presidency spent approximately $507,000 on President Bola Tinubu’s accommodation during the 78th United Nations General Assembly. The memo specified that around $422,000 went toward rooms for the President and his aides at the luxury St. Regis Hotel in New York from September 16 to 23, with the remaining $84,000 (20 per cent of the total) designated for incidentals. Yet, the federal and state governments, day after day, admonish Nigerians to make sacrifices as the economic reality continues to bite and send more into distress.
As though attempting to outshine the Federal Government on frivolity, the House of Representatives of about 360 members received N160 million Sports Utility Vehicles each, totaling N57.6 billion, as personal gifts. In their defence, the House spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, attempted to clarify by explaining that these vehicles were not personal gifts but property of the National Assembly during the members’ four-year tenure.
These vehicles, Rotimi said, were intended as work tools to enable highly mobile representatives to access remote locations and fulfil their duties effectively. The emphasis was that the SUVs were needed as functional and reliable off-road vehicles. These vehicles usually become the property of the legislators at the end of their term. This has been the practice from my findings.
Were Nigeria blooming with economic prosperity and financial stability, not a few Nigerians could have bothered about either of these incredulous wastage of taxpayers’ money. This is only worsened by the fact that budgetary allocations to the Executive arm and the National Assembly also do not take the difficult economic status quo into account. The proposed 2023 budget exemplifies the fiscal recklessness and tone-deafness of our elected leaders. Out of N13 trillion in projected federal expenditure, N3.8 trillion is earmarked for debt servicing from debts incurred to encourage this habit of indulging the excesses of the Executive and the National Assembly.
That N3.8trn exceeds the combined allocations to critical sectors like health, education, roads and agriculture. Debt servicing alone consumes about 96 percent of projected federal revenues of N4 trillion. This shows that almost all of Nigeria’s earnings will go towards paying interests on loans instead of funding development.
The Presidency and the House of Representatives exemplifies the tragic irony of Nigerian public administration: the more the agencies and committees purportedly aimed at cutting waste and improving efficiency, the more wasteful the government becomes.
The biggest drain of scarce resources is the monstrosity of recurrent expenditure, which is exacerbated by the duplications in the budget as well as appropriations for wasteful and needless projects/ventures.
The National Assembly is exacerbating the debilitating waste with its narcissistic and extortionate appetite. The lawmakers will gorge billions in statutory transfers and their constituency projects. They also allocated several billions for renovating their office building, which has gobbled billions of naira over the years with no appreciable facelift. Their legislative aides are due some extra billions, just as office supplies and transport will gulp even more. This is barefaced banditry.
The billions allocated to pleasure the palates of the privileged in the midst of so much misery and lack among citizens smacks of irresponsibility and a disconnect with reality on the streets.
The State House will spend billions on meals, travel and welfare in 2023 besides the billions allocated to feed and pamper embodiments of gluttony like the OSGF and HoS. Travel became the largest component of State House expenditure since 2015 junketing took precedence over governance. In 2023, N2.5 billion is proposed for foreign and local trips whose value to citizens has been viciously pilloried by critics.
These spendthrift tendencies betray not just fiscal recklessness but also policy heartlessness. Critical public goods and services are being starved while leaders binge on wasteful subsidies and perks. Health care, education and citizen welfare continue to take the back seat in the grand scheme of things. Nigeria cannot compete globally with such a reality. This is a recipe for permanent underdevelopment.
The opportunity costs of this waste are actually much higher when we consider the loss to infrastructure deficit which erodes productivity and competitiveness. Nigeria loses $10 billion annually to poor power supply as businesses burn diesel. We lose $14 billion annually to flooding which destroys roads, farms and houses due to poor drainage. These losses dwarf the paltry sums allocated to fix them. Without rectifying these infrastructural bottlenecks strangling productivity, growth will remain stunted.
Three factors drive this wasteful culture: institutional decay, regulatory failure and rampant corruption. Oversight institutions lack teeth to bite despite chronic waste exposure. The Fiscal Responsibility Commission and Bureau of Public Procurement are effete bulldogs. Audited reports of MDAs are perpetually tardy, so culprits escape sanctions.
The National Assembly, despite its constitutional oversight role, connives and condones rather than condemn the excesses of the Executive. Its own budgetary process falls below minimum standards of integrity, with lawmakers reviewing and passing their own budget proposals.
Secondly, big gaps remain in the public financial management and procurement frameworks despite recent reforms. The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 which should guide prudent spending is observed in breach. Budgets still lack credibility. Regulations like the Public Procurement Act 2007 are not fully enforced to ensure value for money. MDAs ignore budgets and procurement rules with impunity. Fraud thrives on poor record keeping, accounting and auditing. Faulty frameworks enable fiscal criminality.
Most importantly, graft remains the elephant in the room when discussing public sector waste and inefficiency. The MDAs and parastatals are cesspits of corruption manned by rapacious officials. Budget padding, ghost workers, contract inflation, illicit payments and bribes are standard fare. Public office is for primitive accumulation in Nigeria. The anti-corruption agencies seem unable to buck this culture as only slaps on the wrist are given to culprits. Until these crass causes are addressed, the haemorrhage will continue.
Taming this terrible tendency requires urgent structural shifts. Our budgets must be supervised and overseen with a fine-toothed comb to ensure they reflect fiscal prudence and strategic priorities. Profligate presidential/executive votes and constituency projects should be scrapped. We must adopt a medium-term expenditure framework that links budgets to the government’s socio-economic objectives. The constitution and fiscal responsibility law must be amended to guarantee judicious use of public resources.
The National Assembly should be compelled to follow international good practices like programme-based budgeting with measurable milestones to keep track of progress. Public financial management must be strengthened by full deployment of IPPIS, TSA and other frameworks to check waste. Oversight institutions need more resources and independence to play their roles robustly.
The anti-corruption drive needs to be escalated from rhetorical threats to demonstrable deterrence. Political interference should end and all indicted officials must face prosecution. Asset tracing, confiscation and recovery needs to be intensified. Systems enabling corruption like convoluted waivers, subsidies and tax credits should be abolished. Nigeria bleeds profusely from fiscal indiscipline; it is time to stanch the haemorrhage.
The culture of waste is an existential threat to Nigeria’s economic viability. If not curtailed, we face the stark prospect of debt unsustainability. With debt servicing already consuming practically all federal revenues, even a minor external shock could tip us over the brink into bankruptcy. The time has come to cure this addiction to profligacy which has drained development and spawned despondency. We deserve responsible leadership that spends prudently and spurs productivity, not predators who plunder the commonwealth.
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