Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, yesterday, said budgeting under President Bola Tinubu’s administration is not for survival but for economic transformation that guarantees sustainable growth.
He stated this at the 15th Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Lecture organised by the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers in Abuja.
Shettima, who noted that there was a nexus between engineering and governance, said budgeting could not be approached haphazardly or based on emotions but must be carefully handled in a way that guarantees results.
According to him, just like engineering, where every bolt and nuts are accounted for, every dime has to be accounted for in every budget.
“What if we approach the national budget the way an engineer approaches a machine, each bolt and each beam aligns, each weight and measures accounted for, each output carefully tested against the blueprint?
“What if the budget planning wasn’t just a routine exercise but a technical operation in nation-building, driven by strategy, logic, and long-term calibration? This is the thinking we are institutionalising in the current administration,” he stated.
“We are not just budgeting for survival. We are budgeting for reality. We are budgeting for reality. We are budgeting for transformation. We are building systems that speak to productivity to sustainability, and progress.”
CNG initiative hampered by infrastructure deficit – Ex-IPMAN scribe
Former National Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Mike Osatuyi, has said that the Federal Government’s Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative has stalled due to inadequate infrastructure.
It is nearly two years after launch of the initiative.
Osatuyi, in an interview with NAN on Wednesday in Lagos, noted that the persistent infrastructure gaps had led to growing queues at CNG stations in cities like Lagos and Abuja.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for his commitment to introducing CNG as an alternative fuel source, describing it as a patriotic move.
Osatuyi noted that if similar efforts had been implemented 20 years ago, Nigeria’s petrol consumption could have been cut by up to 50 per cent.
Highlighting CNG’s benefits to include economic viability, environmental sustainability, reduced air pollution, lower transportation costs, and improved safety.
He acknowledged the appointment of a Minister of Gas and the creation of the Presidential Initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG), chaired by Mr Zacch Adedeji, who also heads the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Despite these steps, Osatuyi criticised the slow pace of implementation of the initiative.
He said plans to introduce 200,000 CNG-powered buses and tricycles have been undermined by the limited availability of conversion centres and refuelling stations.
“The current budgetary allocation does not reflect the urgency of the transition, especially considering the high cost of vehicle conversion and the growing number of Nigerians making the switch,” he said.
He also cautioned against a top-down approach, urging the Pi-CNG Committee to engage more stakeholders across the oil and gas sector to avoid what he described as a “monopoly of knowledge.”
According to Osatuyi, the insufficient number of operational CNG stations has led to long queues and delays reminiscent of past fuel scarcity crises.
He cited specific hotspots—such as Zuba-Kubwa Road and Abuja Airport Road in the capital, as well as Ibafon on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Ibadan Tollgate—where vehicles endure hours-long waits, with trucks often stranded for days.
He described the situation as a “national embarrassment,” given the initiative’s original promise to reduce fuel costs and enhance energy security.
A longstanding advocate for deregulation and alternative fuels, Osatuyi called on the President who also serves as the Minister of Petroleum Resources—to take direct action.
As a solution, he proposed allowing existing IPMAN-operated filling stations to offer both CNG and conventional fuels, thereby bypassing the need to construct entirely new stations.
This, he argued, would fast-track deployment and align Nigeria with global CNG leaders such as China, Iran, India, and Pakistan.
Osatuyi concluded that for the CNG initiative to succeed, it must be backed by coherent policies, strategic investment in infrastructure, and broad-based industry collaboration—all crucial for long-term savings and national energy resilience. (NAN)