Sherlock Holmes and the kleptomaniac

If there are budget thieves in Aso Rock, BudgIT is out to get them

Jul 10, 2024

Good morning, Big Brains. If you’ve been to the market recently, I’m curious to know what you think. I left the takeout life and embraced cooking last month and the prices still shock me everytime. But the prices might reduce in the coming days. Keep reading to find out why.

- Margaret

Word count: ~1,000
Reading time ~3 mins

Let’s get into today’s edition:

BudgIT finds suspicious ₦732 billion allocation for vague empowerment projects in 2024 budget
Nigeria may suspend taxes on some food imports to reduce rising prices
Liberian president reduces his salary by 40%

The Big Deal

BudgIT finds suspicious ₦732 billion allocation for vague empowerment projects in 2024 budget

There's a brewing scandal and it’s the Aso Rock kind. BudgIT, a civic organisation that promotes transparency, played detective and found out that the federal government allocated ₦732.5 billion to “empowerment projects” that “are vague and challenging to track due to their nature.”

These projects are not specific and BudgIT couldn’t figure out what they are really about despite their advanced tracking system. As a result of this, BudgIT believes that the “empowerment projects” are just bougie words used to account for a corruption scheme created to spend public resources on party loyalists and misuse funds.

BudgIT also added that the ₦732.5 billion, which is most likely going to the pockets of a few people, is higher than the ₦646.5 billion allocated to health projects. If you haven’t deeped it, that is disturbing.

This is also not the first corruption claim made against the 2024 budget. In March, Senator Ningi was suspended for claiming that the 2024 national budget had an extra ₦3.7 trillion that could not be accounted for. The House of Assembly dismissed his claims with words and suspended him as quickly as they could yet Senator Ningi didn’t take back his words.

Why is this a big deal?

We currently have over 1,500 cases of cholera in Nigeria. And according to BudgIT, Nigeria also has the second-highest child mortality rate in the world. The ₦646.5 billion assigned to health projects is disturbingly low compared to the ₦732.5 billion allocated to unnamed projects. And as BudgIT rightfully worded it “the government has shown no signs of tackling these critical emergencies head-on, as the allocations in the 2024 budget do not reflect priority in the health sector.”

If it’s true that the ₦732.5 billion is a corruption scheme, then we have real reasons to be worried about our future as a country.

Nigeria may suspend taxes on some food imports to reduce rising prices

If you had plans to find out what Remi Tinubu’s presidential ugwu and spinach tastes like, we hate to be Debby Downers but the garden is too small to feed the nation. The Federal Government, however, might be planning something else that would feed the nation.

There are valid indications that the government is planning to implement some tax-related measures to reduce the prices of imported food items.

Nigeria plans to pause taxes on specific food imports like wheat and maize for 150 days and set a recommended retail price to curb rising prices in Africa's most populous nation.

The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, also mentioned last week that President Bola Tinubu instructed his economic team to draft a ₦2 trillion ($1.33 billion) plan to address food supply and pricing concerns, and support other sectors.

"To ameliorate food inflation in the country caused by affordability and exacerbated by availability, the government has taken a raft of measures to be implemented over the next 180 days," Agricultural Minister Abubakar Kyari said in a statement.

We can’t say when the government will provide a formal announcement for now but as always, we’ll be in your inbox the moment we know,

Is this a temporary solution for the poorest of the poor?

This reduction looks good on paper, but some food experts believe it's only a short-term solution. They believe that the sustainable approach would be for the government to secure the food belt and boost agricultural productivity by supporting farmers with crop varieties and facilities.

Liberian president reduces his salary by 40%

It might be too soon to say this but African leaders are up. President Joseph Boakai of Liberia just slashed his salary by 40% without anybody putting a gun to his head.

According to an official statement, he did this “in fulfilment of his commitment to fiscal integrity and national financial security.” The statement also explained that this is how Boakai intends to lead by example.

Besides cutting his own salary, the President also promised to make sure that public servants' salaries match the country's current economic conditions, ensuring they receive fair pay for their work.

Recall that President Ruto also pulled a similar move by scrapping the First and Second Lady’s budget and other expenses from the Kenyan budget. The real question Nigerians are asking now is “God when?”

This Week’s Big Question

“If black people could have superpowers, what would you want yours to be?

Bioku’s response -”I want to have the kind of invisibility Tazer from Supacell had. Dodge opps, dodge billing, dodge my exes. Can’t think of a better power.”

You can also share your response here and if it’s as interesting as Bioku’s response, we’ll feature it in the next edition.

The Big Picks

Tinubu Creates Ministry Of Livestock Development: President Bola Tinubu has announced the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to address ongoing conflicts between pastoralists and farmers.

Reps Tell FG To Suspend Samoa Agreement Implementation: The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the Samoa Agreement until all controversial clauses are addressed and clarified.

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