States budget N2.1trn for salaries, overheads

[DT]

State Governments are planning to spend trillions on payment of salaries and other costs of running their bureaucracies next year, according to a Daily Trust analysis of the states' 2013 budget presentations. The states have proposed to spend about N2.105 trillion on salaries, allowances and other perks of government workers, overheads as well as other components of recurrent expenditure. This is coming in spite of concerns over the swollen recurrent expenditures of governments at all levels and the relegation of development projects.

An analysis of the budget figures announced by 28 states as at yesterday show that a total of N4.96 trillion expenditure has been proposed for the approval of the State Houses of Assembly.

Out of this, the recurrent expenditure figures of N2.105 trillion amount to a little over 42.4 percent of the total estimates.

This leaves N2.856 trillion for capital projects, which is about 57 per cent of the total spending proposals.

Last month, Central Bank governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi lamented that over 70 percent of governments budgets are spent on recurrent expenditure.

He said the over bloated civil service and the many political offices are guzzling too much of the public revenues, leaving very little for development projects.

Daily Trust investigations revealed that few states devoted substantial parts of their budgets to capital projects, as many of them voted over two-thirds of the estimates to recurrent spending.

Some of these states with swollen recurrent expenses are Niger, whose Governor Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu is chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum. Niger State budgeted N83.7 billion for 2013, of which N71.7 billion is for recurrent spending leaving N21.06 billion for capital votes.

Other states in this league are Kwara, which budgeted N94.4 billion, out of which N58.1 billion is going for recurrent and N36.3 billion for capital expenditure.

In Adamawa, Governor Murtala Nyako budgeted N95 billion for next year, setting aide N54 billion for recurrent spending and N39 billion for capital projects.

Abia State also has a higher recurrent proposal, standing at N67.8 billion out of N134.1 billion, leaving N66.3 billion for capital expenditure.

Enugu State budgeted N76 billion, setting aside N45 billion for recurrent and N37 billion for capital spending.

Of the N73 billion Taraba estimates, N38.8 billion is for recurrent and N35.5 billion for capital expenses.

There are at least six states which have higher capital budgets than recurrent, namely Borno, Kano, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Katsina.

Borno State, whose 2013 budget was unveiled by Governor Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri yesterday, projected N184 billion total spending, out of which N132 billion is for capital expenditure and the balance for recurrent.

Of Kano's N235 billion budget, N59 billion is for recurrent expenses while the bigger share of N175 billion is voted for capital projects. Delta has N398.3 billion total estimates, and N145 billion is going for recurrent and the remaining N252.3 billion has been earmarked as capital votes.

Akwa Ibom budgeted N304.5 billion for capital and N118.7 for recurrent, totalling N459.3 billion. Katsina has N114.5 billion, of which N80.2 billion is for capital and N31.1 billion for recurrent. Imo State earmarked N132.1 billion for capital and N63.5 billion for recurrent.

At least four states have their budgets shared almost equally between recurrent and capital. They are Nasarawa, Kogi, Zamfara and Ekiti states.

For their part, Kebbi, Anambra, Ebonyi and Plateau states have capital votes almost doubling their recurrent expenditures.

Among the states whose capital votes are slightly higher than their recurrent are Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, Bauchi, Cross River, Ogun, Sokoto and Bayelsa.

Siphoned, looted

Commenting on the state budgets, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Malam Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, said, "Most of the recurrent votes are allocated where they are not needed thereby ending up being siphoned. These estimates neither benefit the public nor the country."

He said state budgets are at the whims and caprices of the governors, who use the funds to dispense patronage rather than for the development of the state.

"These huge funds are used to finance pilgrimages, settle political thugs instead of providing critical infrastructure like roads, hospitals, schools, create jobs," Rafsanjani said.

He also lamented what he called the governors' "voracious appetite" for more public funds, which he said informed their desperation for foreign loans.

For his part, spokesman for the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, said the problem of huge public spending on running government would remain so long as "public offices would be looked at as sources of self-aggrandisement."

"Governors, like the president, behave like emperors with needless but expensive retinue of aides who at times also have aides. Hence, the massive looting of the treasury," he said.

"This will continue to be with us as long as governors, politicians believe that they are not accountable to the public and care less about bequeathing any definite legacy after their exit from office."

- Daily Trust