Now that 2023 Budget is Before N’Assembly… Udora Orizu writes that following last Friday’s presentation of 2023 budget estimates by President Muhammadu Buhari, Senators and House of Represent
writes that following last Friday’s presentation of 2023 budget estimates by President Muhammadu Buhari, Senators and House of Representatives members are expected to engage Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Federal Government for defence of their budget proposals
Based on the fiscal assumptions and parameters, total federally-collectible revenue is estimated at N16.87 trillion in 2023. Oil price benchmark was pegged at 70 US Dollars per barrel; with a daily oil production estimate of 1.69 million barrels , exchange rate was pegged at 435.57 Naira per US Dollar; with projected GDP growth rate of 3.75 percent and 17.16 percent inflation rate.
While urging varsity lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities to show understanding in government’s efforts to address the concerns, the President noted that Government alone cannot provide the resources required for funding tertiary education. He said, “Total federally distributable revenue is estimated at 11.09 trillion Naira in 2023, while total revenue available to fund the 2023 Federal Budget is estimated at 9.73 trillion Naira. This includes the revenues of 63 Government-Owned Enterprises. Oil revenue is projected at 1.92 trillion Naira, Non-oil taxes are estimated at 2.43 trillion Naira, FGN Independent revenues are projected to be 2.21 trillion Naira.
He told President Buhari that the nation’s economy is still challenged by dearth of revenues, and the idea of deploying revenues from the Oil and Gas to support the diversification into real sectors like Agriculture, Manufacturing, Mining, etc is now under serious threat. “The situation has worsened. Recently, the loss of our Oil has reached 1 million barrels per day. Translated into monetary terms, our loss is monumental. The figures show we are not able to meet the OPEC daily quota of 1.8million barrels per day. Mr. President, I consider the Oil thieves the worst enemies of our country. The thieves have declared war on our country and our people.
Gbajabiamila described oil theft as a treasonable offence, calling for a swift and systemic overhaul of the systems in place to protect the country’s oil and gas resources.