WorldStage (Abuja)– The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu assured the National Assembly of sustainable and transparent borrowings under his administration.
The Speaker made this known in his keynote address at the 8th Annual African Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices (AN-PBO) Conference in Abuja on Monday.
He declared the National Assembly supports the President on the prudent use of public resources, noting that public debt, if prudently managed, can drive growth and development of any country.
He argued that strategic and responsible borrowing is an essential fiscal tool for addressing pressing developmental needs.
The Speaker, at the opening ceremony, was made Patron of the AN-PBO.
While declaring the conference open, he highlighted the key challenges in fiscal oversight, stating that effective fiscal oversight faces significant challenges “grounded in hard realities that we must confront with equally hard data.”
He said: “One major challenge is public debt. When managed prudently, it can serve as a catalyst for development. The 10th House and indeed the National Assembly have consistently affirmed that, in the face of pressing developmental needs, strategic and responsible borrowing is an essential fiscal tool.
“Like every modern economy, Nigeria must sometimes leverage credit to finance critical infrastructure, stimulate growth, and protect vulnerable populations. What is important and what the President has assured is that all borrowing remains targeted, transparent, and sustainable, consistent with Nigeria’s Medium-Term Debt Strategy and guided by global best practices.”
He added: “Under President Tinubu’s leadership, borrowed funds are being channelled towards transformative projects that will expand revenue-generating capacity, such as power, transport, and agriculture, rather than for consumption.
“The House stands firmly behind the President’s vision of using judicious borrowing as a catalyst for growth and poverty reduction, while simultaneously strengthening oversight mechanisms.”
Abbas noted that his vision for the AN-PBO is that it serves as a dynamic platform that enhances the ability of African parliaments to conduct transparent, evidence-based budgeting and maintain rigorous fiscal oversight.
Noting that the theme of the conference – ‘The Role of PBOs in African Parliaments’ Fiscal Oversight: Contribution to the African 2063 Development Agenda’ – is timely and significant, the Speaker stressed the importance of robust parliamentary fiscal oversight backed by independent and capable Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs), for achieving sustainable development in Nigeria and across Africa.
Speaker Abbas pointed out that people across Africa “demand and deserve economic policies that result in food on the table, jobs for the youth, and better public services.”
He also stated that it is crucial that development strategies in the various countries, including national and continental development plans, are adequately reflected in government budgets and supported by robust oversight.
“People look to their parliaments to carefully align public spending with broader development objectives and thoughtfully consider the voices of their constituents in fiscal decision-making,” he noted.
The Speaker listed revenue leakage through corruption, illicit financial flows, and inefficiency as part of the factors hindering fiscal growth.
While noting that African countries collectively lose staggering sums “that never find their way into development programmes,” Speaker Abbas said “this is money that should be used to build roads in Lagos, equip hospitals in Nairobi, or improve schools in Accra, but instead it vanishes.”
He stated: “Nigeria presents a cautionary example of both the challenge and urgency of oversight. In our public procurement processes, which make up a significant part of government spending, Nigeria loses an estimated $18 billion each year to financial crimes, roughly 3.8 per cent of our GDP. These leaks could fund numerous social programmes many times over.
“There is a need to stop such leakages so that budgets can lead to better outcomes for citizens. That is why we have been increasing oversight hearings, audit inquiries, and strengthening anti-corruption laws. Oversight is vital to ensure that limited resources are used for the public good.”
Apart from institutional capacity constraints that also pose a challenge, the Speaker posited that many African parliaments have historically lacked independent analytical resources to effectively scrutinise budgets and expenditures.
“Without access to high-quality fiscal data and economic analysis, legislators may struggle to hold the executive to account on complex issues of macroeconomic policy, debt sustainability, or public investment efficiency. This gap is exactly what Parliamentary Budget Offices are meant to fill,” he said.
Speaker Abbas noted that one of the most significant advancements in Nigeria is the effort to establish the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) as an independent, non-partisan budget office for our legislature.
“I am pleased to note that the House of Representatives passed the NABRO Bill on December 21, 2023, and it is currently awaiting concurrence by the Senate. This initiative, once it becomes law, will establish a dedicated institution to provide expert budget analysis, economic forecasts, and policy impact assessments for the National Assembly,” he said.
The Speaker explained that NABRO would be empowered to serve as a catalyst for evidence-based budgeting, comparable to the renowned U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). He said while the CBO is often cited as the gold standard, providing non-partisan analysis to support the U.S. Congress, it is the aspiration of the House for NABRO to, in time, rival or even exceed the CBO in analytical capacity and credibility.
He declared: “We will insist on statutory provisions to safeguard NABRO’s autonomy, ensuring it has access to all necessary fiscal data, and insulating its reports from political interference. The NABRO legislation has been crafted with these principles in mind.”
Beyond NABRO, Speaker Abbas also noted that the Nigerian legislature is advancing a broader fiscal governance agenda.
“We are revising our Fiscal Responsibility and finance laws to enhance budgetary discipline and transparency. We are empowering our Public Accounts Committees to take decisive action on audit findings. Additionally, we recognise that institutions are only as strong as their people.
“Therefore, we are investing in developing the technical skills of our lawmakers and staff in by training them in budget analysis, economics, and accounting so they can more effectively scrutinise government finances,” he said.
Furthermore, the Speaker said the parliament is strengthening Nigeria’s procurement laws, particularly through the ongoing reforms of the Public Procurement Act, “to close loopholes, improve competitive bidding, and increase value for money in public spending.”
Alongside these reforms, he said anti-graft agencies are being empowered to plug leakages, tackling losses that cost Nigeria an estimated 4 per cent of its GDP each year.
To confront these fiscal and governance challenges effectively, Speaker Abbas recommended that African parliaments embrace cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence (AI) as critical tools of reform.
He noted that around the world, parliaments are already demonstrating how data analytics, machine learning, and digital platforms can transform budget scrutiny and anti-corruption efforts.
He said: “I wish to conclude by saying that our pursuit of economic accountability and development in Africa will be challenging, but it is possible through determined action and collective effort. The commitment of parliamentarians must be steadfast.
“However, parliaments alone cannot accomplish this on their own. We need the support and cooperation of our executive counterparts, civil society, media, and international partners.”
