Bello El-Rufai, a member of the House of Representatives for Kaduna North Federal Constituency, has raised concerns over what he termed excessive and wasteful expenditures in the proposed 2025 national budget.
Speaking during a National Assembly session on Thursday, El-Rufai criticized the pattern of annual allocations for items like vehicles, computers, and utensils by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), emphasizing that such purchases are unnecessary.
“We cannot continue to allow these budget allocations for MDAs to be spent on vehicles that do not expire,” he stated.
El-Rufai argued that the recurring trend of extravagant spending in every budget cycle is unsustainable and urged a shift in focus towards projects that directly impact citizens and improve public services.
“Sir, the recurrent issue is in every budget, even a young person like myself. We budget for vehicles every year. We budget for utensils every year. So what I would like us to do, sir, to open more revenues or block loopholes, is to look at all these ministries that are bringing their budgets. If they bought vehicles last year, please, they should just relax now,” he said.
He added, “These are the little things, Mr Speaker, that unless we start looking at them, the loopholes we talk about will not come out. I want to thank the leadership for sessions like this and other experienced members. It’s a learning opportunity. But on this, the recent reports, sir, should be implemented.”
El-Rufai also expressed frustration over repeated allocations for items such as computers and furniture, which he argued do not require frequent replacement.
“Since I was a boy, budgets every year come with new computers, new furniture. These things don’t expire, sir. We should cut them out totally. We can’t be asking Nigerians to make sacrifices while we, as leaders, are not cutting anything,” he said.
He further called on committee chairs and senior lawmakers to address this issue, adding, “Nigerians are tired of every agency buying fork and knife every year.”
The debate comes as the Nigerian Senate recently passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill for its second reading. Tagged “The Restoration Budget: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,” the proposed N49.7 trillion budget was presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, projects N34 trillion in revenue and N15 trillion for debt servicing, marking the largest budget in naira terms in the country’s history.
Lawmakers have adjourned plenary sessions until January 14, 2025, to observe the Christmas and New Year holidays.
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