  apocalypse ải規                                              deficit is projected at 9.18 trillion. We have adopted a conservative oil price benchmark of 77.96 US dollar per barrel and daily oil production estimate of 1.78 million barrels per day. We have also adopted a Naira to US dollar exchange rate of 750 per US dollar for 2024. Accordingly, an aggregate expenditure of 27.5 trillion Naira is proposed for the federal government in 2024. Of which the non-depth recurrent expenditure is 9.92 trillion Naira, where depth service is projected downward to be 8.25 trillion Naira and capital expenditure is 8.7 trillion Naira. Nigerian remains committed to meeting its depth obligations. Projected depth service is 45% of the expected total revenue. The budget deficit is projected at 9.18 trillion Naira in 2024 or 3.88% of GDP. This is lower than the 13.7 trillion Naira deficit recorded in year 2023, which represents 6.11% of GDP. The deficit will be financed by new borrowings totaling 7.83 trillion Naira strategically. 22.98 million Naira from privatization proceeds and 1.05 trillion Naira draw down on multilateral and bilateral loans secure for specific project. The president announced the 2024 budget of renewed hope aims to tackle critical issues, boost the economy and resolve security concerns in the upcoming fiscal year. The 2024 appropriation has been themed budget of renewed hope. The proposed budget seeks to achieve job reach economic growth, macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, enhanced human capital development as well as poverty reduction and greater access to social security. Defense and internal security are recorded top priority. The internal security architecture will be overhauled to enhance low enforcement capabilities and safeguard lives, property and investment across the country. Human capital is the most critical resource of national development. Accordingly, the budget prioritizes human development with particular attention to children the foundation of our nation. To improve the effectiveness of our budget performance, government will focus on ensuring value for money, greater transparency and accountability. In this regard, we will work with more closely with development partners and the private sector to address long standing issues in education. A more sustainable model of funding tertiary education will be implemented including the student loan scheme planned to become operational by January 2024. A senior president, Gosu Laquabiu, placed president in Umbu's development plans stating that Nigeria has never had such ambitious plans since its founding. Since its founding fathered. We need to acknowledge the specific achievement of the president Bola Medinibu's administration so far. Those who doubted him initially forgot his track record as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007. And Lagos, of course, is the Nigeria's melting pot. Nigerians strongly believe that with a depth profile of the day today that we are demand for the job to fix our economy. Already we have seen significant economic reforms starting with the courageous removal of the petroleum subsidy which have become an hour battery to our nation. They have taken the right steps to unify the multiple foreign exchange markets. In view of this and the related challenge of high level of public debt the National Assembly will ensure that the 2024 budget includes concrete strategies for sustainable debt management including measures to increase revenue and control expenditure. Specifically, the focus should be on raising more revenue through tax reform, fiscal reform, subsidy reform, foreign exchange convergence and centralized revenue collection. In our recent engagement with MDAs on the MTF we emphasized the need for revenue generating agencies to double their targets to meet the 18 trillion revenue projected in the budget. Mr. President, the effectiveness and legitimacy of fiscal policies depend to a very large extent on public support as the people's house and in line with our legislative agenda the house of representatives will convey the first national citizens budget town hall to harness public input and opinion on this budget. We are convinced that this will increase transparency and accountability improve policy making and increase trust in government. Public participation in the budgetary process has been shown to improve resource allocation and service delivery as well as the most stable and robust economy. Joining us to look at this budget presentation tagged the new hope by President Balati Numbu his immediate past chairman, ICANN Lagos and district society Alistair Wilkos and an economist, Shea Gunsuputon. Gentlemen, good to have you and plus politics. Alistair. Pleasure is all mine. What is to start with? What is your synoptic take of the overall budget as presented by the president today? First, I was taken aback at the size of the budget. The size of the budget is rather very, very wide. We have moved from 22 trillion of the last budget to 27 trillion, which is a very, very large size budget. And I'm not convinced, I stand to be corrected. I'm not convinced that whatever that is being proposed cannot be contained in a very, in a more compacted budget. We have not left this incremental budgeting strategy that we have always implemented and our approach to budgeting and go to what we had earlier proposed, Euro-based budgeting, we have not. And so every year what you have is an incremental based budgeting where some of the people here is just jacked up and then a beautiful speech being read down the line, we might not be able to see those speeches being, I mean being matralized because the man making the speech is the president, the implementers of the budget are various men and women scattered all over agencies, MDAs, ministries and all other gamut of administrative architecture within the country. So that leaves a lot of gap. But I like what the house speaker said talking about Tajidina bars, talking about going to hold a stakeholder summit on the budget. I think that might help to put some impetus to how the budget is being implemented because really we have very beautiful speeches, very beautiful analogies and set out objectives. But the president is not the sole implementer. The president is the president, he does his own job. There are several gamut of implementers of the budget and I wonder if those people have those beautiful speeches embedded in their minds, in their souls and in their heads. So that as they move forward, they remember what the president said and implement as such to achieve the desired objectives. I doubt if that's going to be the case. Okay, let's chase the two rabbits that you have just released with your opening service. You won the disparity between the 22 trillion that was the last budget to 27 now, a gap of about 5 trillion, which you believe. I could ordinarily be saying to you that that maybe adjusted to inflation and the valuation of the narrative to the value of the narratives that 22 trillion budget was made. That's number one. Number two is the first station or the slight first station that is inherent in your remark, that is one thing for the budget to have been read in a very romantic environment such as the president had this morning but that ultimately the implementers are the bureaucrats and they seldom pull the same strides in their work as the person who has read the budget. But it is incumbent on political leadership too to find the mechanism for the reform of the civil service, of the bureaucracy because they may have the best of visions but if the bureaucracy is not quite well resourced to implement it we will be expressing the kind of frustration that you have reasonably and politely and discretely expressed. How would you respond to those two responses to your earlier points? Thank you very much. To the first point, first and foremost our budgets are always, our cost of services is always overblotted and too large in terms of already embedded with a lot of corruption. So where it is covered in government circle Nigeria is a country where it has a climate of over almost a billion naira so it has a climate of roads which in the world standard in most part of the world it is between 250 million to 300 million so it has a climate of roads less than 500 million we have seen budgets of other countries when we compare them to our own currency so you discover that we already know when we have budget padding we already have that embedded in our budgetary system so these budgets are prepared by the bureaucrat so they have already affected their interest so even at the 22 trillion you discover that it is an overblotted budget it is an overpadded budget because when you see what they spend the cost of implementing I mean for instance we all shouted to you and cry about the legislator buying a car for one million whether you and I want to buy that car if we choose to buy that car I am sure we cannot buy for more than 80 to 90 million but in government circle it is clear that the price is doubled no matter what you are putting into those cars it is not about you cannot be more than 70 to 80 million at best 200 million but in government circle it is of course two times so we already have that corrupt element inflation element embedded in our budget and that is why I am talking about going back to the basis and I wish the president the country had some bold reforms some bold policies when it took over offices to reform the country he would take a bold step in this direction maybe, let me excuse him maybe between June and December and now it is too short a time to select that from the scratch but going forward for 2004 and 24 budget when you have the luxury of time and the whole year then you must implement such drastic departure from our budget system to a realistic budget now, if you look at the budget debt servicing is going to take about debt, a new debt will take about 7 trillion why debt service is going to take about 8 trillion net you can say we are doing about about 9 trillion debt servicing about 9 trillion we can say that we are doing some savings between new debt servicing of the old debt but the fact now remains that will you always want to have debt in a corruption embedded budget so that is why I said we must go back to the basis if we want to reform this country and reform the brokerage and reform service delivery to the to the amusement of the inter-cities agreement then we must go back to the basis now, talking about talking about the brokerage of course we have seen them the budget of Mr. President today is nothing different to the budget of other presidents you see here the same thing, human capital development taking priority, talking about security taking priority as the difference I had now was talking about internal security to overhaul the internal security system for a better protection I agree to that, there is the need for that I am not saying there is no need to invest there is a lot of money in a lot of sectors critical sectors for instance education security and infrastructure talking about works and infrastructure we will get to that we will get to that Alistair your colleague is with us was your initial take was your initial take was your initial take your initial servo of the good evening what was your initial take of the totality of what was read this morning the connection is a bit we may let the the technical team hello I am sorry can you hear me now we can now we can Alistair let me come back to you was the technical team is sorting Alistair I am hearing a silent discrete voice of frustration from a survey business analyst whose primary occupation also speaks to figures I seem to be from your earlier remarks would have been would have been to asabic, would have been to antagonistic would have been to you guys a subtle underlay of frustration that I am hearing in your voice especially around the bureaucracy your trust in the implementers of the budget the vision may be good but here I am listening to a seasoned professional is that you respect the general but the the food soldiers you don't see discipline you don't see a fault atness am I being to judgmental of your opinion please help me well I am not every every sound mind every love of this country I love this country with passion with all my heart, with all my soul and I feel so concerned about happiness in the country and you know my credentials I have always been a supporter of government ever since I speak for government even though I have never been anywhere near part of those who run who call the same government and remain supportive and will always remain supportive of government because that is the only country I have and I am so proud to be a Nigerian so I love this country and yes you are not wrong in saying my frustration because my frustration has always been the fact that we have had beautiful budgets today we are discussing the fragment budget I hope you call me back let discuss some of the state budgets because it looks like everybody will always concern the fragment budget which may not affect us so much like our state but let me take for every budget circle we have people that are ready to slice the cake and put in their pockets that is why you see budgets for roads they will not be done you see budgets for infrastructures they will not be built at the end of the day you will hear that the current expenditure which is the consumption part of the budget is implemented 100% sometimes you look for additional you go for a supplementary budget but the capital budget that should affect the generator of the people is maybe sometimes you have as low as 40% of the implementation for me that shows that the implementers of the budget or the the entire gamut of governance in tandem with the speeches of the president with the beautiful romantic speeches of the president implement the budget the entire gamut of the implementers and the administration is not in tandem if not you will not be here in the here and cry but like if our budget that we have made over the years let's say since democratic discretion came into being Nigeria should have been competing with Malaysia with Singapore in terms of development but no you hear grass corruption everywhere is it part of the budget the answer is no but because implementers have a different ideology a different idea altogether you see clear case of waste you see clear case of waste and profigacy to the I mean dam the consequences after all we investigate I see this will not happen and that's what we find ourselves in and that is my pain not because I'm against anybody in government or against the president or against this bitch I love the president I love this country I love this country with all my heart and with all my blood but sincerely we can do far better with even the little we have now we are targeting 18 trillion revenue after all I'm concerned with the choice play 18 trillion in our economy is a choice play we can do far better than that if you deflate our budget put it into dollar that's about 27 billion dollars so it's a choice play concern what South Africa is doing I mean that could be the that could be the budget of that is the budget of California or budget of some states in the US but even with our own environment what we are expecting if every if there is the president is talking about involving international partners for accountability they've all been involved international partners we have all the laws the public procurement act is a big enabling anti-corruption piece of legislation that should be done let me go to your colleague who is now on phone I guess is the internet connection is not allowing us the grace and the beauty of seeing his lovely face visually but at least we have the audio make we say no over chopper so we will we will do shagun good to have you you want to give us your summary take of the major major major issues addressed in the budget today by Mr. President hello shagun hello shagun shagun good evening thank you for your for your tenacity and persistence some other persons would have been frustrated I really want to appreciate you for this kindly give us the summary of your of your take of the issues which the budget has addressed by the president today well I mean I think the key issue for me is the fact that this is more of the same you know it's that it's the same budget cycle that we've seen the country go through over the last god knows two decades also so it looks almost like a copy and paste budget I don't see anything that will inspire the confidence that the things that the president is he wants to achieve that he will achieve them the budget is a policy document and you begin to look at the budget if you want to determine the direction that the government is likely to go in so if we still want to become a one trillion dollar economy in seven eight years then there are certain things that we need to do from today that will set us on that path and that this budget anything particularly significant that suggests that we will head in that direction so we still have the number of deficits a significant huge deficit we still have revenue shortfalls we still have capital expenditure that is grossly in a decreased share go when an expert like you is talking and you are loading those points one on the other you will be doing a lot of the service to to people who may not be as knowledgeable in the arcane theories of economics as you are let me focus on some of the things you have actually stated now and what may be the implication positively or negatively on the awesomeness of the economy you are a bit you are a bit you are not happy and any sensible person should not be happy with debt so you emphasized the fact that the debt the tradition of indebtedness borrowing is still in this budget what may be the implication of that to the economy well I mean it's really very simple it just means that whatever revenue that the government is generating 90 to 70% sorry 90 to 95% sometimes maybe even 100% will go to pay of our debt service obligations we are maintaining that track even in this budget so how can we develop if we are spending all of our income paying creditors and so that we then have to keep borrowing to get ourselves out of okay fantastic point Shagun but the natural question that will come to the mind of an average person listening to the well made point is that what if the money that we are now paying back to creditors what if that money has been used for capital projects or provide infrastructure don't let me be speaking too much grammar provide infrastructure what will be wrong with that are you this disillusioned because you know perhaps that the sizable part of that money may have been used to just pay salaries which will be a which will be a disaster you know that this point you make is exactly the problem you know when you look at this budget and you find that the capital expenditure component is just under 25% if I'm not mistaken because I've done the analysis the non-debt recording component is about 60 to 70% you know this is huge and what we are saying is that we are borrowing money all of the revenue that the government has is going to pay off the monies where they are borrowing then we will now have to get a deficit funding to pay salaries and then to fund capital projects in a very small point that will not meet our requirements we have to do something different I think the point here is that if the president had told me that he was going to have reforms the cutting point of these reforms would be a budgeting process and I would argue that this is just less than one year into his tenure maybe we will not be able to see some of those budget reforms now because really he has inherited the process so we will have to wait till 2020 the 2025 budget which will be presented in 2024 before we can begin to judge him well I can grant that but I would think that there are some things that we can still see in days that will show some will in that direction and of course we should not forget to mention all of the very extravagant and financially profligate provisions in both the national budget the national assembly budget across all the states all of these things are there and it is just showing that nothing is changing let me quickly jump over to your colleague Alistair your colleague is a bit is wearing the same color of Jessie intellectually and emotionally as you seem to be wearing the gentleman too is not too enamored with the lack of innovation in the budgeting style or doctrine that's just been same of we used to say in those days emotion is same of the shame and that is not too just like you so to an average Nigeria now we must be speaking to solutions because people you manage portfolios of companies and I guess what families do, what companies do will be what nations also need to do to turn around misdirected sheep Alistair what are the ideas that people like you starting with you now Alistair what are the ideas that you want to be seen on the table you have made the point of reform of the civil service they can be playing at the same level of league of their game but shagu is also speaking about lack of lack of vision the budget does not seem to him to be inspiring, inspirational what are some of the ideas that you will like to put on the table well I mean let me thank shagu I'm sure he didn't hear me when I spoke so exactly what he said like given the president some slack because he didn't have a year lots of time to do that budget reform but if there is no budget reforms in terms of going back to the basis let us start from the zero big budget which I'm sure the president coming from the private sector he has not forgotten how it is in the private sector that nobody does things the same way and get a different result that is insanity because if you really want to carry out those bill reforms and return their amazing economy work for everyone then those bill reforms in terms of budget must be so I'm expecting my solution one expecting a different budget in approach for 2025 budget which will be delivered in 2024 and the time is now to start it is not all this going on but that I'm seeing on your screen now all the governors and smiling you are taking me hello Alista I was actually begging you don't be angry I can see a man who is trying to be very polished he not being openly angry but Alista I'm not angry I was joking let me make this one please please let me make this one so that you can attend to it Alista the fact is that the man has a rich private sector background like you and Shegou Shoputon but the irony now is that the ecosystem of where is functioning now is an ecosystem that is subjected to bad tradition the legislature the two chambers of national assembly they will still want their 180 million era vehicles they still want to live as they still want remunerations and perks that are far greater than what an average American senator gets I hope I'm making a point and coming into that environment coming into that environment the kind of initiative you take in the private sector you now as an accountant and a consultant a business management consultant you will look at somebody like me who is running a business and you tell me the way you are running this business you run it on the ground if you don't do this, this and this but some characters in the legislature they just don't want to hear that whatever may be your problem let us have our cake now and eat it how is reform going to hold in that environment it is the entire the entire mindset of the entire country because it is not that lazy if you are a brother if you go there and you want to be well over and then you go back to Moonshi and tell them grammar they will abuse you they will chase out of Moonshi they say what do you bring for us so even what is happening by them it is exactly what the society to do don't come empty handed it is just like a civil servant who has worked for 35 years he doesn't have a house where is he coming back to the people will tell him we are full so in every body process he is looking for how to build the third, fourth, fifth, sixth house to secure his future I am not saying it is hopeless leadership is everything remember when president Mohammad Buhari came to power the very first few three months they said he is a non-nonsense man a lot of people shifted grounds and said ah let us see how it is going to be it is when they discovered that the man was no longer the Buhari of 1984 and the man now has leeway he just is not a father no longer the Buhari that we know in 1984 everyone is just beginning to come back to business and you are hearing some of the worst corruption in the system look if we don't tame corruption and president Buhari knows it he knows he has been in the public sector he has been in the public sector he run lego state he turns around what happened yes he is not going to be a day he is not going to be a year he is not going to be six months but it is now time to start setting the foundation there was a policy he did and the vast which I was very angry with now let me tell you the truth and I am saying this the university system is one of the most corrupt institutions we have the universities we have in the country the universities are so corrupt to the point that you just keep putting in money you have not seen any output so when that policy of 40% deduction from IGR universities came to I was so happy about it because you leave so much money in the hands of these people they will mismanage the money according to governments the amount of money the governments spend in their education is unpresidented yes, nothing i repeat nothing let me go to the next question let us go to the next question let us be prepared to be like cathedrical as the University of Lagos and they will be doing part time in other primary particsities and putting their best they don't want to be paid some discipline must be considered the system ډ vegetables ډ N ans ډ ډ ډ  şeyler bet commod  darle and share?  Hailo Xiaun chen  답 wellbeing う 06  Bleoma acyj・ ți еЕ cuest��cis র 먹어 ఎর manifested еЯর బর ణর ఆর కর కর রig దর స��� పর నর నর గর ఫর తর పর పর పর పর నর మর స��� వর వর స��� పর కর మর నর ధর పর పর ం� కর పর పর కর యর పর వর �  cultivated of Ghana is lower than that of almost all our enables in the West African Coast is far lower than South Africa, far lower than alNujibs.  Shaygun to collaborate the points you are making, C. Zimbollah made Tinumbu before he became president    and also spoken to this very vital point that you are making. The Nigeria's budget, in fact, that Nigeria's budget by the nature of the size diminishes the economic opportunities within the economy. And that, you know, for somebody who has always spoken to a bigger budget to governize the economic growth, I don't want to be the guest on this show, I'm as equally shocked that this budget is as niliputian as it has always, maybe my opinion. Take it down from me please. Exactly, so our budget now, this budget is roughly, if you go by the official exchange rate of around 800 Naira to the dollar, it's about 34 billion dollars, which is about the range that we are operating since the Jonathan days. So we cannot say we want to run a one trillion Naira economy in seven to eight years and still be running the same budget. I had thought that the president will sit down, you know, he has had six months since he became president, and by the way he has been going into the president for much longer than that, and he has known that he was going to be president since February, or is it March of this year? So, you know, if we want to be honest with ourselves, is that almost ten months, you know, can we have come up with a budget that would have at least doubled on the budget of last year, and can we have looked at how to cut the cost of governance radically whilst increasing revenues aggressively in a manner that because the citizens are seeing the cuts in cost of governance, the implication of the additional burden on them of the revenue increase for governments would have been acceptable. Could we have tried that? Could we have seen governments going in, for example, for a revenue profile for the federal government alone of 15 trillion or maybe 20 trillion? Whilst by the time you aggregate those from the other states, you know, across the federation, maybe you add another 10 to 15 trillion and we talk of a 40 trillion revenue budget, then maybe with a 20 trillion deficit, and you are talking of a total budget size of less than 60 trillion naira as against this 27 trillion that we presented, you know, then we know that we are serious, we know that, oh my goodness, something has changed, something is shifting. We haven't seen anything like that, and honestly that's just my own concern. I think that the president really needs to come back to, you know, doing the things that he was saying before he became president. Thank you very much. I really appreciate you. I guess in the last one week or the about we have had to take quality time from you for the enlightenment of our viewing public. I really sure do appreciate you, my brother. Thank you. Thank you. Alistair. Alistair, I can't thank you enough, at least for also when an accountant and an economist agree there's something fundamentally needs to be done and done urgently because the economics is the bigger picture, the accountant looks at the nano figures. And yet, the two of you are seeing anemia, you are seeing linearness, you are seeing urgent need for reform, you are seeing a need for a vision review that will be more inspiring. Alistair, thank you very much. We really appreciate you. Thank you. Thanks for having me Gwala. I am grateful. I hope we will come back and discuss the budget and reverted budget. The state's budget, the state's generally, to be honest with you, okay maybe we pick one each from the geopolitical zone, Lagos in the south west. Yeah, you are right. I think it's about time we return. Revert, canoe, and then we begin to take it from there because they are a major arm of development of the country and we need to focus on them and begin to take public note. Wonderful, wonderful. Alistair, I give you my word on that. Thank you very much. Today's throwback. The little dictators at the back of the room are already...