Tinubu's government ignored urgent needs in ₦2.1trn supplementary budget - Obi

While acknowledging that the previous government may not have envisaged some of the needs of the new administration in the original budget, Obi argued that the ₦2.176 trillion Supplementary Appropriation Act failed to make substantial provision for national welfare.

He expressed his views in a series of tweets posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, November 8 2023, the same day the President signed the supplementary budget into law.

Tinubu signed the budget in the presence of the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, and other top government functionaries in a brief ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The budget had been a subject of controversy since it was proposed to the National Assembly for approval as Nigerians condemned certain items, including the proposed ₦5.5bn presidential yacht and renovations of presidential quarters across the country.

Sharing the same sentiments expressed by many Nigerians, the Labour Party flag-bearer said the budget’s content showed that the government is tone-deaf to the yearnings of the citizens.

"A supplementary budget is a budget made for very important national welfare needs of the people which were not captured originally in the main budget or do not have adequate funding.

"Admittedly, some items in the current budget may not have taken into consideration the needs of a new administration, but it is expected that a supplementary budget this late in the financial year should reflect mostly urgent items of national welfare.

"Sadly, the most pressing national needs and emergencies have not featured in the supplementary budget that was just announced by the government," Obi noted.

According to him, the government should have tailored the budget to mitigate the hunger threat as predicted by the United Nations and World Food Programme (UNWFP).

He also regretted that most public discussion about the budget has centred on the proposed presidential jets and the furnishing of presidential quarters and offices.

"For example, the United Nations and World Food Programme have recently alerted that up to 6.5 million Nigerians will go hungry next year.

"This number is largely from among citizens in Sokoto, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, and Zamfara States. A caring Government in order to plan for the mitigation of such pending catastrophe can request for supplementary budget provisions to cushion those under threat.

"No item of urgent social welfare has yet featured in the supplementary budget being orchestrated by this government. Instead, the items being made to dominate public discourse on the budget include a mysterious Presidential Yacht, Presidential Jets, the furnishing of already lavishly furnished presidential quarters and offices, fleets of luxury SUVs etc.

"This portrays a Government that is totally uncaring and insensitive to the suffering of the majority, and indifferent to the mood of the nation," he added.