Civic-tech non-government organizations, BudgIT, at the weekend expressed deep concerns at the Federal Government’s low investments in key economic sectors like education, health, power, works and housing, women and humanitarian affairs, among others.
A statement by BudgIT pointed to available data on the Open Treasury Portal, showing that the current investment in social sectors is not enough to meet the needs of Nigerians and actual expenditures on procurement and financing of projects are not sufficient.
There is no better time, it continued, to prioritize such national and social development, as well as sustainable improvement of the lives, livelihood and general welfare of Nigerian citizens.
It noted that between June and September this year, the Federal Government has paid a total of N42.73bn and N51.31bn for procurement and projects in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, respectively.
Within the same period, it added, payments totaling N105.97bn were made under the ministry of finance, including payments for line items considered less productive.
An example of such, it continued, “is a whopping N1.25bn paid for the digitisation of the Supreme Court which we consider a large sum, when compared with a meagre N7.7m paid for the upgrading of the Federal Medical Centre Yobe State’s Physiotherapy Complex. This level of spending will make it extremely difficult to provide even the most basic of services.”
The statement quoted Olaniyi Olaleye, BudgIT’s Senior Research Analyst, as expressing concern “that budgeted figures may not be representative of the actual amount spent on social sectors as there continues to be a gap between budgeting and implementation.
“Moreover, in some instances, it is unclear whether the budgetary allocations were actually spent on these sectors, seeing that our previous analysis has shown that some of these payments end up in private accounts,” Olaleye added.
It also regretted that the education sector, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten the short end of the stick due to the impromptu but necessary economic shutdown.
“As we speak, experts have raised concerns about the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19, which means that Nigeria urgently needs new investments in infrastructure that can enable distant learning opportunities. This will improve learning experiences in the short and long term.”
BudgIT also expressed belief that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of investing heavily in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery and the health sector.
“Huge financial resources are needed to expand health services and improve the quality of life. Investment in health services should also receive tangible attention in the public investment portfolio.
BudgIT urged the Federal Government to increase allocations and funding to those key social sectors, and urges the Federal Government to offer an expansion of funding to make basic Education and Healthcare accessible to even the poorest in Nigeria.
