Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, has called for increased revenue mobilisation to expand Nigeria’s fiscal space and address the country’s development needs.
Bagudu spoke on Monday at a capacity-building workshop for the Senate Press Corps in Abuja, organised on the theme, “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertion.”
The minister said Nigeria’s budget was relatively small when compared with its population and development requirements.
He questioned whether the country could achieve its development objectives without expanding the resources available for public spending.
Bagudu urged Nigerians to engage in a broader conversation on revenue generation, expenditure and borrowing, saying these were critical to funding development and achieving the country’s long-term economic aspirations.
He also advised journalists to scrutinise budget provisions thoroughly and establish their origin, purpose and intended beneficiaries before describing them as unlawful insertions.
The minister stressed that effective budget oversight required collaboration between the legislature and the media, as well as evidence-based reporting.
He said greater public understanding of the budget process was necessary to build confidence and support for major fiscal decisions.
Bagudu also linked increased resource mobilisation to the Federal Government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy, saying the objective would require difficult but necessary decisions on how Nigeria funds its development.
