In a recently released report titled ‘The Economic Legacy of the Buhari Administration,’ prominent civic organization BudgIT expressed deep concerns over the state of Nigeria’s economy after eight years under President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership.
As the nation prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu, BudgIT highlighted the government’s alarming accumulation of debt, soaring inflation rates, and stagnant economic growth.
According to BudgIT’s comprehensive evaluation of Buhari’s economic performance, the Budget Office revealed that between 2016 and 2022, the government raised a total of N26.67tn in revenue while spending a staggering N60.64tn, resulting in a deficit of N33.97tn.
To bridge this significant gap, the administration heavily relied on domestic debt, which skyrocketed from N8.84tn in December 2015 to N44.91tn in June 2023.
Additionally, external debt surged from $7.35bn to $37.2bn within the same period.
BudgIT’s report indicated that these figures did not account for the Central Bank’s support amounting to N25tn.
Ultimately, President Buhari’s tenure saw Nigeria’s debt profile increase from N42tn to N77tn, exacerbating the burden of debt servicing.
The report revealed that debt servicing expenses rose from N1.06tn in 2015 to N5.24tn by 2022, resulting in a worrying debt-service-to-revenue ratio surge from 29% to 96% under President Buhari’s administration.
The civic organization also criticized the country’s central bank for its monetary policies, which exacerbated the hardships faced by the people.
BudgIT argued that during Buhari’s tenure, the Central Bank extended its influence beyond its monetary policy domain, significantly impacting fiscal policy.
Despite its primary mandate being price stability, the bank failed to uphold it.
Instead, it expanded the money supply from N18tn in 2015 to N55tn in 2023, flooding the Federal Government with excessive liquidity.
However, these measures failed to curb inflation, which reached 22.5%, with food inflation soaring to 24% as of April 2023.
BudgIT pointed out that despite the Central Bank’s allocation of over N800bn to the Anchor Borrowers’ Program, aimed at tackling food inflation, repayment challenges persisted.
Regarding unemployment, BudgIT highlighted a disturbing trend during President Buhari’s tenure.
The report revealed that unemployment rose from 10.4% in 2015 to a staggering 33.4% in 2020, with the government’s mismanagement of exchange rates creating hurdles for business growth.
BudgIT also criticized President Buhari’s indecisiveness regarding subsidy removal, which cost the administration at least N10tn to sustain.
Despite plans to remove the subsidy as crude oil prices surged, the government failed to take action and continued an economically wasteful venture that required decisive implementation.
Furthermore, as President Buhari’s term neared its end, Nigeria missed out on another opportunity to benefit from rising oil prices, reaching $114 per barrel in April 2022.
The report attributed this missed opportunity to the Central Bank’s excessive liquidity injections into the system.
While other oil-based economies reaped the rewards of skyrocketing oil prices, Nigeria’s oil production dropped below one million barrels per day.
Consequently, the non-oil sector’s contribution to public revenues grew from 44.6% in 2015 to 59.4% in 2022.
However, BudgIT’s analyses consistently revealed that Nigeria’s spending lacked direction, with government agencies misusing public
