National Assembly Says N11.8bn Proposed Budget Poor for Livestock Ministry’s Take-off

•Seeks supplementary appropriation to address shortfall 

•House committee opposes govt’s envelop budgeting system 

•NHRC promises to tackle emerging human rights challenges

Michael Olugbode, Sunday Aborisade and Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Livestock Development yesterday said the N11.8 billion proposed for the take-off of the recently created Federal Ministry of Livestock Development was grossly inadequate.

Also yesterday, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs opposed the federal government’s envelop budgeting system, stating that it lacks legal recognition.

Equally, yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) presented its 2024 budget performance and defended its proposed 2025 budget before the Joint Committees on Human Rights of the Senate and House of Representatives.

The federal government had in the 2025 appropriation bill asked the National Assembly to approve N10 billion as capital expenditure and N1.8 billion as overhead for the Livestock Ministry.

The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Livestock Development, Hon. Wale Raji, queried the amount of input from the Presidential Implementation Committee for the take-off of the ministry.

Raji said, “There will be need for you to make special presentation on this and come up with supplementary budget that will reflect the hope of Nigerians.

“The budget is abysmally low to respond to the yearnings of Nigerians.”

The minister, Mr. Idi Maiha led management staff of the ministry and heads of agencies to defend the budget before the joint committees of the National Assembly.

He said activities for the smooth take-off of the ministry which was created three months ago, had started with necessary structures being put together.

He said some departments had been drafted to the new ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, from which the new ministry was carved out.

The minister said the ministry had yet to have office accommodations and lacked facilities, necessary office, and operational equipment to run as a full-fledged ministry.

He said, “The ministry is currently being accommodated by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).”

Maiha said his ministry had initiated talks with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to secure an adequate office accommodation.

The minister said though the budget might be small, it would provide a roadmap to get the ministry take-off effectively.

He said the ministry was committed to addressing negative climate change and other environmental challenges.

He also said it would open up avenues for youth and women to engage in economic activities in the livestock sector.

He added that processes were ongoing to statutorily transfer livestock-related federal agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture, to the livestock ministry.

He said within the budgetary envelope, capital projects will be shared across geopolitical zones.

He said its projects would be market-driven to attract local and foreign investments

He said the ministry would engage in massive well-coordinated sensitisation campaign across national and local media to project the ministry.

The joint committee asked the minister to harmonise adequate financial needs and present it again, in the form of supplementary budget.

The panel assured the Minister that the National Assembly would ensure its accelerated passage.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Musa Mustapha, said the committees, “will try our best to see how we can help the ministry achieve its mandate.”

He said the meeting was on foundation laying but that the ministry must buckle up as it was expected to give a progress report on the challenges raised for the joint committee to make necessary interventions.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs has opposed the federal government’s envelop budgeting system, stating that it lacks legal recognition.

The Committee also criticised the allocation of only N286 million to service Nigeria’s 109 missions abroad.

According to the Documents submitted by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Committee, the Ministry had recommended about N1.5 trillion budget, based on its needs assessment of the missions.

The Chairman of the Committee,  Hon. Wole Oke, while speaking during an interactive session with the Ministry and the Budget Office yesterday said: “I have not seen anywhere in our laws where envelop budgeting is mentioned” describing the budget as too poor for missions that were supposed to mirror the country’s image.

“We’re worried that what you submitted to Mr. President was not based on needs assessment, and it is at variance with the law.”

The Director General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu explained that budgetary allocation for the missions had been increased by 25 percent in the 2025 proposed budget.

Yakubu urged the National Assembly to pass the tax reform bills to boost the nation’s revenue generation.

He also recommended a reduction in the number of foreign missions until a time that the country achieves a better revenue generation.

“Why don’t we consider a significant reduction of our foreign missions until we’re able to improve our revenue? My hands were tied on the envelop budgeting system.

“We have 109 diplomatic missions abroad, comprising 76 embassies, 22 High Commissions and 11 Consulates. The problem as you rightly described is as ubiquitous as Nigeria’s present worldwide.

“The situation was certainly worse three years ago when Nigeria’s debt service was proclaimed almost 100 percent of the country’s revenue. We start to see improvement under this administration, when through debt financial engineering in year one, debt service was brought from as high as 100 percent to 55 percent,” he added.

“We’re still not there yet. Bold reforms have been embarked on by the current administration, starting with the liberalisation of the foreign exchange rate, and the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol and other products.

“We expect to save about N11 trillion from this two models adopted. The savings started to materialise in October last year, but the main beneficiaries, especially the state governments collected the money and kept mute, but we knew that they took a lot more than they have for several years.”

“We have brought before the National Assembly, tax Bills that you’re considering, that we expect you to improve so that we’ll be able to collect more revenue.

“Mr. President has gone out of his way to insist on 2.12 million barrels per day, a very ambitious target for oil output. He has seen that we must look for the revenue to be to attend to these needs. That’s why this year’s budget is ambitious.

“Last year, it was about N36 trillion but this year, it almost N50 trillion. We have to continue to manage scarcity, whether we call it envelop budgeting,” he added.

In the meantime, the NHRC has presented its 2024 budget performance and defended its proposed 2025 budget before the Joint Committees on Human Rights of the Senate and House of Representatives.

The budget presentation which held at the National Assembly Complex, highlighted the Commission’s efforts to address pressing human rights issues amidst growing economic challenges and human rights concerns in the country

Speaking during the session Chaired and Co-Chaired by Senator Adegbomire Adeniyi, Chairman Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Hon. Peter Makinde, Chair House of Representative Committee on Human Rights, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, provided a breakdown of the Commission’s N5 billion allocation for 2024.

Ojukwu, who stated that the budget achieved an unprecedented 99.9 percent implementation rate, including the construction and completion of eight state offices across the country, emphasised that this achievement was remarkable given the Commission’s limited resources.

The Executive Secretary justified what the proposed N8 billion appraisal for the Commission for 2025 fiscal year, which represents an increase from the previous year, would be used on.

He said the proposed budget aims to address emerging human rights challenges such as terrorism, communal conflicts, insurgency, natural disasters like floods, and the rising cost of operations due to inflation and an increased payroll.

Ojukwu said: “The proposed budget will strengthen the Commission’s capacity to address pressing human rights issues in Nigeria.”

He revealed that, “the proposal includes funding for the establishment of more human rights offices across the country to improve access to the services of the Commission, especially in states where our services are not felt,” insisting that these efforts are essential for enhancing the Commission’s independence and effectiveness.

“This proposed budget reflects our determination to create a more inclusive and just society,” Ojukwu said, adding that: “It will enable us to expand our reach, respond swiftly to human rights violations, and engage effectively with communities to promote awareness and accountability.”

He however appealed to lawmakers to consider increasing the proposed budget from N8 billion to N19.55 billion, explaining that the growing volume of complaints, which stood at over 2 million annually and the cost of investigating each case is straining the Commission’s resources.

He added: “For instance, investigating a single case costs approximately N8,000. To investigate two million cases effectively, the Commission would require N16 billion. The current allocation of N8 billion is grossly inadequate to meet this demand.”

Members of the Joint Committees commended the NHRC for its strategic focus and commitment to its mandate. While some lawmakers sought clarifications on specific aspects of the proposal, which the Executive Secretary addressed, some consequently raised their concerns.