The Federal Government has earmarked N765 billion for the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) championed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The programme is the highest allocated project among the selected projects listed in the 2021 approved budget.
According to details virtually presented Tuesday by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, N400 billion will go directly to the programme while N365 billion will go into “upscaling the programme”.
The latter was an addition approved by the president.
The programmes, introduced by President Buhari in 2016, are aimed at the poor, unemployed, and disenfranchised Nigerians.
They include N-Power for unemployed graduates; Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) for small and micro businesses; Conditional Cash Transfer to poor Nigerians, and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme for public primary school pupils.
Aside from the SIPs allocation, N159.8 billion was approved for regional interventions.
Details show that N65 billion was allocated for the reintegration of transformed ex-militants under the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) – Statutory transfer was allocated N31.33 billion while the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) got N63.51 billion.
The Budget of ‘Economic Recovery and Resilience’ is aimed at accelerating the economic recovery process, promoting social inclusion and strengthening the resilience of the economy, the official said.
The aggregate revenue available to fund the 2021 budget is projected at N7.9 trillion (36.9 per cent higher than the 2020 projection of N5.84 trillion).
To promote fiscal transparency, accountability & comprehensiveness, the budgets of 60 Government-Owned Enterprises are integrated into the federal government’s 2021 budget.
In aggregate, 30 per cent of projected revenues is to come from oil-related sources while 70 per cent is to be earned from non-oil sources.
Overall, the size of the budget has been constrained by relatively low revenues and economic downturn.
