Senator Ita Enang, a former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, has raised alarm over the 2025 budget currently being debated in the National Assembly. Enang, while speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Sunday, warned that the proposed budget, if passed in its current form, could spell trouble for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
In a detailed analysis of the budget, Enang noted key areas of concern, including inadequate revenue generation, poor prioritization of revenue allocation, and insufficient funding for critical projects. He expressed doubts about the administration’s ability to deliver substantial outcomes by 2024 or 2025, a situation that could undermine its performance narrative heading into the next electoral cycle.
“If we examine the budget and the outcomes of the budget, we may be challenged in having a lot of deliverables because it’s not been able to deliver in terms of low revenue generation, low revenue mobilisation, and not prioritizing revenue allocation,” Enang stated.
“We are in 2023/2024. What are we going to show at the end of the 2024 season for Nigerians to appreciate that we are going to have much in 2025 to also show in 2026, which will cumulatively reflect for the 2027 elections?”
Enang emphasized the importance of tangible results from the government’s initiatives and projects, urging the administration to rethink its approach to budgetary allocations. He noted that the current state of the budget does not inspire confidence in its ability to produce visible achievements across critical sectors.
“Sectorially also, what did we attain in 2023/2024? What can we show? What can the president commission in each state in 2024/2025? The budget and budgeting process, from all the hearings or complaints we’ve heard from the legislators and ministers, in view of their allocations, does not seem to reflect or answer these questions,” he observed.
Enang called on key figures in the Tinubu administration, including the President, Chief of Staff, and Ministers of Budget and Finance, to urgently review the budget and align it with the administration’s priorities. He described the budget as not being structured to provide the President with projects or initiatives that could be celebrated in the coming years.
“I will urge Mr President, the Chief of Staff who is a veteran, and the Ministers of Budget and Finance to please take up the budget. I’ve read the budget. I’ve gone through most of the sectors. It’s not reflective that it’s capable of giving Mr President so much to commission in 2025 which he can be proud of in 2026, sectorially,” Enang stated.
He specifically pointed to critical infrastructure projects like the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene Highway, which he said has faced significant delays due to funding issues. “Take, for instance, the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene Highway being funded under the NNPC/FIRS tax project. There has been a lot of delays in releasing funds. Given the way some of the projects that were near exits are abandoned or given low allocations, we will not be able to commission those projects,” he lamented.
Enang warned that if the current budget is passed without substantial revisions, the administration could find itself reliant on state-level achievements and projects spearheaded by APC governors to justify its record in the 2027 election campaign.
“The way it is [the budget], what we are having and defending at the National Assembly, if it’s passed like that, it will give them a problem and questions to answer in the field of campaign in 2026/2027. The President, the presidency, and the APC will be relying on the projects of states and relying on governors to justify what they have done for APC to go for the next election,” he said.
The former presidential aide urged the APC to take a more active role in shaping the budgeting process, ensuring it aligns with the party’s priorities and aspirations. “Mr President’s team should go sectorially and say this is the Presidential priority. APC should also take interest in the budgeting process,” Enang advised.
