Onanuga’s remarks further questions government revenue, budgeting – Mahdi Shehu

Public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has raised fresh questions about the Federal Government’s revenue management and budget implementation following recent comments by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

In a post on his X handle on Thursday, Shehu said Onanuga’s remarks had reinforced concerns that some government ministries were operating without receiving their full budgetary allocations.

He wrote: “Finally, the cat has been officially let out of the bag.”

Shehu claimed Nigerians should pay close attention to Onanuga’s comments, which he said appeared to support concerns that government revenues and budgetary performance had not been fully disclosed.

“After listening to the short clip below, all Nigerians must thank Bayo Onanuga for confirming what many Nigerians have been saying on the way and manner the Federal Government have been concealing the revenues and budgetary failures in the last three years,” he said.

According to Shehu, if it is true that some ministers have been using their personal funds to run their ministries, several questions need to be answered.

“When some ministers, according to Mr. Bayo, use their personal monies to run their ministries, the natural questions will be: What happened to all their yearly budget defences and appropriation laws? Where are all the huge revenues, loans and grants?”

He also questioned which account Nigerians should believe regarding the funding of ministries.

“Which do we believe, ministers who openly admitted being shortchanged of their approved budgetary amounts or Onanuga who claimed some ministers run their ministries based on a ‘Father Christmas’ approach?”

Shehu added that more disclosures could emerge in the future.

“A day has come and other days when more cats will be let out of the bag will be coming.”

His comments followed remarks by Onanuga during an interview on Arise Television, where the presidential spokesman defended the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms.