A vote against Security Votes, controversial allocation makes a return to an uncertain 2021 budget with only 40% debt financing. Recall, many reports had previously condemned these expenses on their secretive and excessive nature.
- One hundred and twenty Federal MDAs allocated ₦24.4 billion (24,398,214,419) as security votes in the 2021 Budget;
- The budget earmarked 93% (₦22.7 billion) of the security votes to the Defence, Police, Interior and Intelligence agencies;
- In essence, the government planned to spend almost ₦2 (₦1.86) out of every ₦1000 naira in the 2021 budget on a non-receipted miscellaneous security vote;
- Rather than an allocation for security votes, the government could build 1,627 classrooms or 870 healthcare centres. Not to mention creating 244,000 additional entrepreneurs with 1 million naira loans.
Various agencies within the security, interior and intelligence sectors of Nigeria earmarked over ₦22.7 billion as security votes in the 2021 Budget proposal. Chief amongst these portfolios are ministries of Defence, Interior, Office of the National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Police Force.
Already we established the expenditure to Nigeria’s security agencies vis-à-vis efficacy was mismatched. The storied history of insecurity in Nigeria being the clear evidence to that. Despite this, recurring miscellaneous allocations such as security votes persist. Several reports have decried these spending in years past, but to no avail. Nonetheless, it resurfacing in a 2021 budget rife with excesses, and an overreliance on debt financing is worrisome.
Security votes allocation in 2021 budget
The budget analysis showed 120 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government allocated ₦24.4 billion (24,398,214,419) as security votes. Of these, 20 MDA within the security and intelligence sectors had over 93 percent of the total security votes in the 2021 budget. As shown in the table below, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has the highest with ₦5.4 billion allocation for security votes. Following closely are Defence Intelligence Agency and Nigerian Army with ₦4.37 billion and ₦4.19 billion respectively.
Other agencies within the subsectors that have allocations in the billions of naira are Department of State Security (₦1.80 billion), Ministry of Defence Headquarters (₦1.52 billion), Defence Mission (₦1.49), Police Formation Commands (₦1.27 billion), and Nigerian Airforce (₦1.2 billion).
Also noteworthy is the fact that prior to this revelation, security votes failed to surface in the 2020 revised budget. But resurfacing now, and in such a magnitude in the 2021 budget, raises questions. Not to mention there is no metric on how these agencies arrived at this sum.
In the past, there have been controversies regarding security votes expenditure by the state and federal governments. A Transparency International report by Matthew Page in 2018 described the line item as secretive, unaccounted-for, cash expenditures. According to the report, security votes add up to over $670 million (N241.2 billion) annually and the Federal government’ security votes average over $50 million (N18 billion) annually. More so, the 2021 Budget confirms that the Federal Government allocates $50 million annually to security (i.e. converting using the current parallel market value, ₦460/$1).
Other Key Agencies Lined Up
Several agencies within the anti-corruption, extractive and education sectors also lined their budget with this potential waste, the security vote. The National Examination Council (NECO) budgeted ₦107.5m as security votes. It is unclear what the examination body foresaw in 2021 to avert with the security budget. Two educational institutions also joined NECO in this trade. They are Federal Polytechnic Bauchi (₦60m), and Petroleum Training Institute, PTI (₦41.4m). For the same line item, the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki budgeted ₦54.97 million. The antigraft agencies found with the same line item are EFCC (₦93.56m), NFIU (₦75m), ICPC (₦30.95m). The Ministry of Mines and Steel also proposed ₦38m, while NALDA invoiced Nigerians ₦80m for her security vote.
2021 Budget of Recovery and Resilience
Meanwhile, the 2021 budget currently stands at ₦13.08 trillion with the oil price benchmark of $40 per barrel from the initial $28; oil production capacity of 1.86 million barrels per day and exchange rate of ₦379 to the dollar. On October 8, President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2021 Budget to the National Assembly.
Other assumptions include an inflation rate of 11.95%, with non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) estimates of about ₦132.59 billion; oil GDP of ₦10.102 billion; nominal GDP of ₦142.694 billion, with GDP growth rate of three percent and nominal consumption rate of ₦11.887 billion.
Opportunity Cost of ₦24.4bn Security Votes
By and large, the opportunity cost of these security votes in the 2021 budget far outweighs the unexplainable, unacceptable cash cow for certain public officials. The total allocation of ₦24.4 billion for security vote could build 1,627 Classrooms OR 870 Healthcare centres. If used to provide five million loans, it will create 4,880 additional entrepreneurs and or boost the provision of agricultural facilities to 4880 farmers if given ₦5 million.
Similarly, BudgIT in a recent tweet had called for a downward review of this budget stating that some agencies already have allocation for security charges.