Nigeria Has a Spending Problem, We Must Manage Resources Better, BudgIT Warns
- Reactions have continued to trail the recent findings by the ICPC regarding the 257 projects that cost N20.138 billion and were duplicated in the 2021 budget
- A civic tech non-profit firm in Nigeria, BudgIT while reacting to the above revelation disclosed that the country has a big problem with spending
- The CEO of BudgIT, Gabriel Okeowo is of the view that the present economy requires the nation to manage its resources well
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Gabriel Okeowo, the chief executive officer of BudgIT, a civic tech non-profit organisation, has said that Nigeria has a spending problem.
He made this statement while reacting to the findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that 257 projects amounting to N20.138 billion were duplicated in the 2021 budget, The Cable reported.
Reacting to this on Thursday, December 1, Okeowo, said it is time for critical stakeholders to come to terms with the expenditure inefficiency problem.
Source: Getty Images
He also tasked the ministry of finance to allow for transparency in tracking government spending in every fiscal year, adding that managing the country’s revenue is the first step towards decimating corruption.
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He said:
“It is high time that we began to realise that we do not only have a revenue problem, we also have expenditure inefficiency problem."
Highlighting the nation's problem
He added that:
"The same way the nation came to terms that we have a revenue problem. We have been shouting that before now but it was just about a year ago that the critical stakeholders of the government are now agreeing that we have a revenue problem.
“We need to first establish that we have an expenditure inefficiency problem, and then when we establish that, we should also establish that our way out is not to spend more.
“What happens to managing the resources we have effectively? That is where we need to start from. And what we need to do is that the budget office, the ministry of finance still have a lot of work to do.
“If there is a department within the ministry that is looking into the efficiency of government spending. They need to put that information out.”
China accounts for 81.98% of Nigeria's external debt to countries as how much each Nigerian owes is revealed
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that as of the end of June 30, the Nigerian government owes N1.75 trillion( $4.25bn) to five countries out of which N1.43 trillion( $3.48bn) representing 81.98 percent are to China.
This is according to data obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO) website the body in charge of debt statistics in the country.
The debts to countries were reached through various bilateral agreements with the countries' lending institutions.
Source: Legit.ng
