The Nigerian Budget: Who Decides Where Your Money Goes?

Every year, Nigerians hear billions and trillions of naira announced as the government presents its budget. Roads are listed. Hospitals are promised. Schools appear in the documents. New projects are announced and old ones are given fresh allocations. Then a few months later, someone drives past the same abandoned road and asks, “But wasn’t this project in the budget?” That question exposes one of the biggest misunderstandings about public spending in Nigeria. A budget is not a guarantee that every project written inside it will immediately happen. It is a legal authorisation for government to spend public money for specified purposes, and getting a project from a line in a budget document to something Nigerians can actually use involves several stages.

The process begins with the executive. Under Section 81 of the Constitution, the President causes estimates of the Federation’s expected revenue and expenditure to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly for the following financial year. Those estimates become the basis of the Appropriation Bill. This is the point where government says, in effect, “This is how much money we expect to have, and this is what we intend to spend it on.” Ministries, Departments and Agencies prepare their spending proposals based on their programmes and priorities. But the President does not have the final word on the federal budget. The proposal still has to go to the National Assembly.

This is where the legislature enters the picture. The Senate and House of Representatives examine the proposals, usually through their various committees, question ministries and agencies about their requests and consider the allocations before passing the Appropriation Bill. The National Assembly can therefore scrutinise and alter budget proposals before they become law. Once an Appropriation Act is passed, government has legal authority to spend the appropriated money for the purposes specified in the Act. The Constitution also provides that money cannot simply be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund without constitutional or legislative authorisation. So when a politician says, “I put this project in the budget,” that is not the same thing as saying, “I have built this project.” At most, depending on the circumstances, it may mean that an allocation for the project was proposed or included in the approved budget. There is still a long road between allocation and completion.

After approval comes implementation, and this is where the difference between a budget and reality becomes particularly important. The ministry or agency responsible for the project has to release funds through the appropriate process, undertake procurement where necessary, award contracts and supervise implementation. A project can therefore have an allocation on paper and still face delays because of cash flow problems, procurement issues, changes in priorities, inadequate releases or other implementation challenges. The House of Representatives has itself raised concerns about situations where capital projects receive less funding than provided for in the Appropriation Act and where withheld funds can contribute to project delays, abandonment or requests for contract variations. This is why citizens should be careful when they hear that government has “budgeted ₦X billion” for a road, school or hospital. The important follow up question is not only how much was budgeted, but how much has actually been released, whether the contract was awarded, who is implementing it, how much work has been completed and how much has actually been spent.

Then comes oversight. The National Assembly is not supposed to disappear after passing the budget. Legislative committees have oversight responsibilities, including checking whether government agencies are implementing appropriations as approved. The House has specifically described the legislature’s role as overseeing the executive to ensure that budget provisions are complied with. Other institutions also play roles in public financial accountability, including auditing and financial management bodies. This is where citizens can become part of the process too. If a federal project is listed in the budget for your community, you can ask what agency is responsible, how much was appropriated, whether funds were released, who received the contract and what stage the project has reached. The next time you hear a politician announce that billions have been “approved” for your community, don’t celebrate the number yet. Find the budget line, follow the money and look for the project. In Nigeria, the real story of a budget does not end when the document is signed. That is when Nigerians should start asking whether the money actually moved and whether the promised project followed it.