•Tinubu
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government will spend billions of naira on the purchase of computers in the coming year, details of the 2025 national budget proposals have revealed.
An analysis of the Appropriation Bill by this paper showed that 20 of the MDAs will purchase computers with N14, 261,940,152, reports Daily Trust.
President Bola Tinubu had on December 18 presented the N49.7 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly.
In the budget proposals, the item tagged “Purchase of Computers” appears 212 times, with over 100 MDAs proposing to buy computers.
This is as analysts and civil society groups interviewed by our correspondents expressed concerns over the annual ritual of procuring computers and other “non-essentials” for MDAs, describing it as frivolous and scandalous.
They also called on the National Assembly to scrutinise the Appropriation Bill before passing it.
In the new fiscal proposals, the Ministry of Education alone got N3,880,000,000 to purchase computers; followed by the National Cybercrime Coordination Centre with N2,735,000,000.
The scrapped Ministry of Sports Development also got N1.1 billion for purchase of computers; and N263, 391,743 for the newly created Ministry of Livestock Development to buy same.
Also found in the new Appropriation Bill was N525,183,402 for computers’ purchase in the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy; the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, N75 million and the Ministry of Transport, N70 million.
The sum of N202 million was set aside for similar items for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); the Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD), N220 million; the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), N836 million; the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), N535 million and the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, N797,483, 350.
Other agencies that received allocations for purchase of computers are the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), N350 million; the National Counter Terrorism Centre, N567,936,580; the National Intelligence Agency Pension Board, N250 million; the Federal Cooperative College Ibadan, N450 million; Civil Defence, Immigration and Prison Service Board (CIPB), N164 million and the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, N604,267,087.
Computers’ purchase appears 144 times in 2024 budget
Most of these agencies had allocations for “Purchase of Computers” in the 2024 budget wherein the item appeared 144 times.
In the 2024 fiscal document, the Ministry of Education got N9,067,331,533 for computers; the Civil Defence, Immigration and Prison Service Board, N32 million; the Auditor-General Office, N41.8 million; the National Counter Terrorism Centre, N45.5 million; PTAD, N60 million; the Ministry of Transport, N50 million; NIMET, N130 million and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, N300 million.
Criticisms trail annual allocations for computers
A member of the House of Representatives from Kaduna State, Bello Nasir El-Rufai, recently on the floor of the House, called for a shift in budget planning away from always buying computers, vehicles and furniture.
“Since I was a boy, the budget every year comes with new computers, new furniture. These things don’t expire. We should cut them out totally. We can’t be asking Nigerians to tighten their belts, we can’t have a tax reform bill that could shape this country while as leaders, we are not cutting anything. I urge the committee chairmen to look into this. Nigerians are tired of every agency buying forks and knives every year,” the lawmaker said.
In a chat with our correspondent, a labour leader, Comrade Yusuf Bello, called for prudence, openness and accountability in budget implementation.
He said items that do not require annual replacement should not find their way into the budget.
“We’re at a time that resources are extremely very lean and it’s a time for prudence, openness and accountability. And there are clear assets that do not require replacement on an annual basis. We can repair or upgrade them. Most often, our budgets are padded and loaded with things that end up not getting supplied or purchased at all,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to strengthen its oversight; and the executive, to be firm in dealing with corruption.
‘It’s scandalous, waste of resources’
Executive Director, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Comrade Debo Adeniran, in a chat with our correspondent yesterday, described annual budgetary allocations for computers as a waste of resources.
He said, “Year in and year out, the government has always been purchasing office equipment and other things like furniture and stuffs like that. It is as good as what the president and the vice president want to do with the renovation of their residences.
“It’s unfortunate that the profligacy of our leaders has been going on. The computers that are being purchased are not essential equipment because up till now, those in offices have been using computers and have not told us that they’re no longer functioning. What happened to the maintenance of the same items? Even with that huge amount of money, why can’t they encourage local manufacturers or assemblers of computers in Nigeria so that it would come cheaper?”
Adeniran asked the National Assembly to scrutinise the budget.
He alleged that the lawmakers “don’t look at duplication, genuineness or otherwise of the purchase. They ought to look at what happens to the existing ones. That’s why they’re saddled with oversight functions.”
Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Ibrahim Zikirullahi, who also spoke to our correspondent yesterday, charged the National Assembly “to rise to the occasion and uphold sanity on this budget and other legislative mandates on national development.”
He queried, “What happened to those (computers) bought last year, year before and three, four years back. The amount spent on the procurement anomaly in the last couple of years is enough to set up a world-class computer manufacturing company that could be a means of job creation.
“Budgeting for wasteful and needless items at a time the same government is asking the citizens to tighten their belts leaves much to be desired.”
Also commenting, Executive Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, asked, “How can one justify budgeting for computers by MDAs every year despite the outcry against such? Even the last two years’ budget performances have not been rendered to Nigerians.
“We cannot continue like this as a nation. Those computers and other frivolous items should be removed from the budget. Nigeria and the citizens do not deserve being taken for a ride by those in place of authority.”
