The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, candidly acknowledges that the N27.5 trillion 2024 budget awaiting approval at the National Assembly falls short of meeting Nigeria’s extensive needs.
He emphasizes the government’s imperative to align expenditures with available resources, stating,
“I’m always first to acknowledge that the budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria is way too small relative to our needs and our requirements, but it is now a case of cutting out coat according to our cloth rather than our size.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, Akabueze underscores the challenges posed by limited public revenues, asserting,
“The reason this budget is this small is because our public revenues are also too small. We also need to keep the focus on that.”
Despite criticisms against the 2024 budget estimates, Akabueze defends its allocations, insisting that it caters to essential areas such as healthcare, security, education, and the economy, particularly for the less privileged.
On November 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu presented the budget estimates, outlining allocations for recurrent non-debt expenditure, capital expenditure, debt service, revenue, new borrowings, and deficit.
The budget projections aim for a 3.76% economic growth, with an expected inflation moderation to 21.4% in 2024.
| Channels TV
