President Buhari: Our Budget  Not Consolidating Anything

It is my other short brother, the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade that used to label his budgets with some very colourful names. His budgets used to fly like Saddam’s scud missile and scatter everywhere without achieving anything.

Be like say Sir, this your last budget is looking like Ben Ayade’s type budget o. Did you consult him? This budget is so terrible in its assumptions and expectations that I actually cried after reading the thing. Ramping running cost by 40% to N1 trillion, cannot be said to be consolidating anything. It is one way to Golgotha. Simple. Giving us a historic budget deficit of about 20% and planning to borrow another N8 trillion in 2023 after borrowing N7.3 trillion in 2022 is just taking us for a ride.

The one that is paining me the most is the overheads that are going up. Travel, maintenance? My Lord, is something wrong with your head? I am sorry I have to be asking this but reportedly trying to spend N14 billion on Internet from borrowed funds is enough for me to even forgive that Ezra boy for wearing lipstick to come and see you.

With a funding gap of about $10 trillion, debt servicing will consume another N6 trillion representing a 70% increase year on year, na to shout ‘yepa’ na him remain.

So instead of the government to look at reining in expenditure, the man is just placing phone calls and borrowing more to basically fund lifestyle. Maybe the government is banking on Tompolo to increase revenues from oil; that is why they are doing this.

When I finished reading the summary of this budget, my legs were shaking and for the first time in my adult life, I started fearing for the country. This budget is a disaster and if care is not taken can lead to social unrest.

Mbok, how can we be servicing much more than we are earning? I hear it will soon cross the 102% mark and yet we are planning to spend about N5 billion on labour. Which labour ooo?

Please, President Buhari, kindly retrieve that budget and represent a budget of, ‘please let me go’. I tell you, just come and go because you are not getting it.

At the tail end of your second term, after showing a very strong aptitude of leaving at the end, you should be taking very hard decisions. You should by now be removing the fuel subsidy for anybody that wants to die, make he die, you should be selling the universities instead of pandering to ASUU’s childishness. I am sure their own is inside and that is why you are borrowing to accommodate. You should be trimming the government, reducing its exposure and strengthening the private sector so that FDIs can come in again.

Thankfully, insecurity is gradually being contained, the environment with clear reduced government economic involvement should be able to trigger some renaissance.

My brother, this your budget is like pulling the pin on a grenade and throwing it inside a room with 200 million people and you closing the door and running away. Not fair. Not fair. It is a ‘yeye’ budget. Sorry sir, no vex, but na truly yeye budget. Kai! I am in tears.