The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government to end what he describes as financial indiscipline and to prioritize human and national development, particularly in the education sector.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Obi expressed his concerns about the country’s fiscal policies, highlighting the disparity between the budget allocations for critical sectors such as education and less essential expenditures.
“As the giant of Africa which we are, I remain concerned about our fiscal indiscipline as a nation.
Imagine the situation in our education sector where the global average of secondary school enrollment is above 80%, while in Nigeria it is 28%,” Obi wrote, underscoring the alarming state of secondary school enrollment in Nigeria compared to global standards.
Obi, who previously served as the governor of Anambra State, also criticized the federal government’s budgetary priorities.
He pointed out the substantial amounts allocated for non-essential projects while critical areas such as education receive minimal funding.
“Yet our budget for the National Assembly Car Parks is N6 billion. The budget for the National Assembly Recreational Facilities is N4 billion.
Approved for the Construction of Hostels in 12 tertiary institutions is just N1 billion,” Obi lamented, highlighting the stark contrast in budgetary allocations.
He emphasized the need for the government to adopt financial discipline and prioritize the allocation of resources to sectors that are pivotal to the nation’s development.
“It is time for us to stop this financial indiscipline and embrace financial discipline by prioritizing the allocation of resources to the critical areas of human and national development,” Obi urged.
In December 2023, the House of Representatives approved a total of N28.78 trillion in expenditure for the 2024 fiscal year.
This approval was N1.2 trillion more than the N27.5 trillion budgetary proposal presented to the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives by President Bola Tinubu on November 30, 2023.
A breakdown of the approved budget revealed that N1.74 trillion is earmarked for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for debt service, N8.78 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N10 trillion for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2024.
