The national budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses made for the upcoming year. A surplus budget means income will exceed expenses; a balanced budget means revenues are expected to equal expenses, and a deficit budget means expenses will exceed revenues. Nigeria perpetually operates deficit budgets which means that government borrows a lot of the money it spends and therefore should spend it judiciously.

The Appropriation Act is the law that authorises the expenditure of government funds, and sets money aside for specific spending. Under normal circumstances, all government monies must be spent in line with the Appropriation Act. Once a budget has been prepared and approved, spending is expected to be in accordance with the approved expenditure heads. Even as far too many budgetary allocations don’t stand to reason, Nigerians are more concerned with issues of transparency and accountability in government spending rather than the necessity of it.

In the light of the fact that the federal government borrows to finance its deficit budgets, the unadulterated debauchery of our political class is lamentable. They make claims about their concern for the welfare of the masses and promises over their ability to create wealth, all of which are revealed as patently false when details of their budgets become public knowledge.

National budgets routinely concentrate on the perks of political officeholders and relegate citizens’ welfare to the background. Appropriation can be regarded as the share of the “national cake” which government decides to allocate for purposes they deem to be important. When the term “appropriation” is used it makes it easier to understand exactly what is going on in governance and the mindset of those in charge.

A cursory look at the 2025 Appropriation Act reveals a mindset of misplaced priorities, non-accountability, granting self-luxuries, ignoring the suffering of the majority of citizens. The Presidency has appropriated far more money for purchasing brand vehicles, than the total amount budgeted for federal polytechnics in Enugu, Borno, and Kano states, in spite of the fact that the Presidency appropriated over N4 billion on cars last year alone. The amount the Presidency appropriates for cars is more than the combined budget of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Federal Civil Service Commission! More money has been appropriated for the construction of office complex for Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants than has been appropriated for the education quality assurance of 25,000 basic and secondary schools nationwide!

As for the supposed concern for the future of our youths, the Ministry of Youth has appropriated more money for maintenance of their office furniture than for the development of Youth Centres in six geo-political zones!  The ministry is appropriating far more for the maintenance of office furniture than for youth mental health and psychological support programmes nationwide! The Nigeria Space Council evidently feels that holding meeting is far more important than developing expertise. They have appropriated more money for meetings and sundry activities than for training and capacity building.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs has appropriated far more for the fixing of elevators than for women’s political empowerment programmes and support for victims of trafficking combined! Furthermore, they appropriate far more for the purchase of vehicles than for advocacy to end child marriage, child abuse and the national response on orphans or vulnerable children. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCP) appropriates 20 times more for the purchase of motor vehicles than they do for the development and production of tribunal codes. The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services has appropriated far more money for the production of jingles and other activities, than for the inspection and certification of products for export!

There is an undeniable lack of oversight in the preparation and implementation of budgetary allocations, especially as the federal government has long since lapsed into producing a “cut and paste” documents which bear no reality to the situation on ground! For example the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) inexplicably appropriates millions annually for maintenance of office furniture, this is in addition to the billions they appropriate for “maintenance of office building”! Nigerians are at a loss to explain exactly how millions of Naira is spent on “maintenance of office furniture” in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). As if this isn’t bad enough in both state and federal annual budgets there is a recurring appropriation for computer purchases.

Since 1999 federal government has made annual appropriations for the purchase of computers with little tangible outcomes and without any corresponding progress in digital infrastructure and functionality. Indeed, the majority of federal government websites are never updated, underscoring the disconnection between budgetary provisions and service delivery.

Even as Nigeria has become a filthy nation with no effective waste disposal policy, the House of Representatives committee on environment has expressed dissatisfaction over what it described as the “abysmally low” release of funds to the Ministry of the Environment. Their chairman said, “As a House, we will not allow the future of generations to be compromised because of misplaced priorities.”

Every elected government has the constitutional right to produce its own budget and get the document passed by the National Assembly as an Appropriation Act. While respect for the Appropriation Act is legislated, disrespect for the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) cannot be legislated away. This disrespect will only continue to grow as long as budgets revealing an improper mindset are routinely passed.