Budget minister Bagudu urges media to support Tinubu’s disruptive reforms

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has called on the media to deepen its engagement with Nigeria’s budget process by promoting informed public discourse, strengthening accountability, and helping citizens understand the choices underpinning the Federal Government’s development agenda.

Bagudu made the call during a speech at the Senate Press Corps Capacity-Building Workshop, organised around the theme “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertion.”

The Minister said that effective scrutiny of the national budget must go beyond identifying controversial provisions to understanding the constitutional process, the rationale for budgetary choices and the development needs those provisions are intended to address.

He urged journalists to ask the right questions and investigate budget provisions thoroughly, rather than draw conclusions without sufficient context.

According to him, Nigeria’s budget conversation must begin with a fundamental question: “What is the national budget, and what should it be?”

Bagudu said that Nigeria’s relatively limited fiscal space, given the size of its population and development needs, makes it necessary to broaden the national conversation on resource mobilisation and the scale of public investment required to achieve the country’s development aspirations.

He linked the discussion to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the administration’s ambition to build a more prosperous and inclusive economy, noting that the country’s long-term development framework under Agenda 2050 provides a broader context for these decisions.

The Minister said that the ambition to build a $1 trillion economy requires Nigerians to confront difficult but necessary questions about how the country mobilises resources and funds development.

“Should we continue with a budget that leaves our populace with one of the smallest budgets, or should we consider how we can mobilise more resources?” he asked.

He noted that the choices surrounding revenue, expenditure and borrowing cannot be separated from public confidence, stressing that citizens’ understanding and support are important to the government’s and the National Assembly’s ability to take major fiscal decisions.

Bagudu also underscored the National Assembly’s constitutional role in the budget process, noting that the legislature has ultimate authority over the national budget within Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.

He therefore urged greater public understanding of the relationship between the Executive and the legislature in shaping the budget, and encouraged the media to strengthen scrutiny through evidence-based reporting.

Regarding alleged budget insertions, the Minister cautioned against assuming that every unfamiliar provision is an irregularity, stressing the need to investigate the origin, purpose and beneficiaries of specific provisions.

He cited examples of provisions that may appear questionable when viewed outside their local context but could address genuine needs in particular communities, including water infrastructure in underserved areas and equipment for fishing communities.

He stressed, however, that this context should not diminish the need for vigilance.

“We are dealing with human processes and human errors. Therefore, vigilance is necessary, and the media and legislative oversight should remain vigilant,” he said.

The Minister further called for a balanced discussion on budget transparency, particularly where the disclosure of sensitive information could have implications for national security or strategic interests.

While affirming the importance of transparency, accountability and the public’s right to know, he encouraged the media to recognise that responsible reporting also requires consideration of the wider national interest.

Bagudu also challenged conventional assumptions about budget performance, particularly the tendency to regard capital expenditure as inherently more valuable than recurrent expenditure.

He argued that expenditure on security, education, healthcare, human capital and the payment of public-sector personnel can have direct developmental consequences and should therefore be assessed by the outcomes they deliver.

He likewise emphasised the importance of meeting debt-service obligations, noting that failure to honour such commitments could affect borrowing costs and, ultimately, have consequences for private-sector operators.

The Minister urged the media to remain rigorous in holding public institutions to account while ensuring that coverage of the national budget does not lose sight of Nigeria’s broader development challenges and ambitions.

“How careful are we to ensure that, while insisting on holding public officials to account, we do not lose sight of the bigger picture?” he asked.

Bagudu said the media has an important role in helping Nigerians understand the choices facing the country, particularly as the government seeks to address historic under-investment in areas including education, security, roads and water.

He maintained that the success of efforts to transform the economy would require not only government action but also public support and public imagination, and urged the media to help bring these conversations to the forefront.