On April 30, 2019, the Senate passed the 2019 budget of N8.916trn, presented by Senator Danjuma Goje. And although the budget still needs to be completely implemented by the Executive, we are still reeling in shock at a review made by Twitter user @Samuel_biyi. First, a breakdown of the budget estimate reveals that statutory transfer is N502.58 billion, N2.25 trillion is for debt servicing, recurrent expenditure gets N4.65 trillion, and N2.94 trillion is earmarked for capital expenditure.

@Samuel_Biyi, whose name is Laolu Samuel-Biyi stated in his first tweet that the 2019 budget is a scam, and pointed out that there are hundred agencies that are useless and should be scrapped.

So, I promised to review the Nigerian budget and point out 100 agencies that are useless and need to be scrapped. I’ve spent over 4 hours going line by line and I can’t. The whole budget is a scam and I’ll shred my passport in the end if I continue.

— ‘Laolu Samuel-Biyi (@samuel_biyi) May 6, 2019

The review was done as a thread that highlighted the dishonesty and fraudulence of the 2019 budget. From the Ministry of Agriculture vaguely justifying its budget under ”promotion and development” to the Code of Conduct Tribunal needing more money to furnish its office, the review is enough to make any sensible Nigerian weep.

That said, the duplicity of agencies has created a climate where the budget can be inflated. Also, politics in Nigeria is nauseatingly attractive and appealing, in that anyone can see it as a way to enrich themselves. It’s not that we aren’t aware of the rampant corruption in the country, but this review just shows how rife and still prevalent it is.

It’s worse than I thought, guys. It’s bad bad. Save yourselves; activate plan B.

— ‘Laolu Samuel-Biyi (@samuel_biyi) May 6, 2019