Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen has said the era of envelope budgeting in the country will soon come to an end when the tax reform of the Tinubu government takes off.
He explained that the envelope system of budgeting was being practiced in the country because the government does not have enough resources to meet the needs of all agencies in the country.
Speaking at an informal engagement with Nigerian youths, organised by the Office of the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he said President Bola Tinubu was working in collaboration with the National Assembly to tackle insecurity and engender economic prosperity in the country.
While emphasising the inadequacy of Nigeria’s annual budgets, he expressed optimism that the tax reform initiatives of Tinubu will substantially raise the revenue profile of the country.
He said: ‘I want to assure you that this present administration is doing its best. If you look at the historical figures in budgetary provisions particularly for education and for health, you will see that there has been a reasonable appreciation of the figures that we have recorded in the last two budgets.
‘One thing I want you to go home with is that Mr President and the National Assembly have been able to cross a major hurdle that has been bedeviling our budgets. And what is that? Paucity of revenue. If you remember the 2025 budget was increased significantly. But even with that, we are not where we ought to be.
‘But the good news today is that both the National Assembly and Mr President have come up with a revolutionary initiative that within the next one to two years, we will substantially increase the revenue profile of Nigeria several-fold. That is the tax reform initiative brought by Mr President.
‘Once it comes into effect, I sincerely believe that Nigeria’s budget will improve at a minimum by five times what we have today. And that will be the time when we will say we can look at sector by sector, agency by agency, to give them what they require.
‘But as of now, the revenue we have is simply inadequate to satisfy any agency. And that’s why we have what is called the Envelope System. ‘just make do with whatever that’s given to you.’ But I assure you that, with Mr President in the driver’s seat, that era will soon come to pass. That will be the time we can provide for each agency what they actually require, and that will be the time we can start talking about what the international standard is, what they are supposed to get as against what they are getting today?’
He said the president is his role model due to his ability to network across the country and maintain relationships for over four decades.
The Speaker was accompanied by his wife, Hajia Fatima Tajudeen, and his children who watched as the APC Youth Wing honoured him with the ‘Legislator of the Year (National Category)’ award.
The event, which was organised to commemorate Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary, saw the Speaker inspiring the youth with his life as a teacher, accountant, and politician.
He stated that the Tinubu-led administration is working hard towards ensuring the security of lives and property, as well as creating an enabling environment that will make crimes and criminality unattractive to the youth.
He said: ‘There’s no country in the world that can achieve any meaningful progress without adequate security. The President and the National Assembly, I’m sure if you observe, have worked very hard to put non-kinetic measures in place to ensure that security around the country is improved.
‘Like my own state, (Kaduna) just two weeks ago, the UK Ambassador to Nigeria gave my Governor (Senator Uba Sani) an award for the improved security within the state.
‘I believe within the next two years, and certainly the next four years of this administration – God willing, we will no longer be talking about insecurity, because the government will do whatever is necessary to ensure that we create more than any other thing the enabling environment that will mitigate and prevent insecurity.’
He also attributed the unity and peace in the House to the overwhelming support from members, noting that they are according their due rights and benefits irrespective of political, religious, and ethnic differences.
Speaking on the lessons he had learned on his journey, which he will pass to his children, the Speaker advised youths to be honest and transparent in their dealings, saying these virtues attract public trust and success.
He said: ‘Be open and honest in whatever you do. Once you are open and honest, you can never get it wrong. Even when you make mistakes, people will understand that it is a mistake.
‘I believe that the youth of Nigeria need to really learn this little – little – that when they imbibe this in whatever they do in their life, not necessarily politics or leadership in any way, even in their daily life, they will see tremendous results, they will get the support of the people. That is my message to the youth.’
Abbas also explained why President Tinubu is first among his mentors.
He said: ‘I have so many role models. Asiwaju is one of them, definitely because of his antecedents in being able to support people right from the time he was a senator to governor. I have seen him with a set of people over a journey of 40 years, and he is still with them. Not too many Nigerians – not too many – will be able to sustain relationships for such a very long time. So, he is my role model as far as that is concerned.’
He noted that his proudest moment as a legislator was when President Muhammadu Buhari assented to a record 22 of his bills under the last Assembly (out of the record 74 sponsored by him).
Abbas stated that it was an ‘unprecedented achievement’ for a lawmaker to have 22 of his bills signed into law, as law-making is the core responsibility of a legislator. ‘I was very proud and happy,’ he said.
On the gender bills under consideration by the National Assembly in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution, Abbas recalled how the youth successfully pushed for the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ bill, which led to the reduction in the age qualification for elective public offices.
‘If we achieve that, we are further pushing the agenda of inclusivity to all Nigerians. So many things need to be done but we need to do them one at a time. I am very optimistic that the 10th Assembly provides a golden opportunity for the women of Nigeria to actualize their dreams in the democratic and electoral processes of this country.
‘I will be there to ensure that those aspirations succeed for the benefit of mankind.’