Thirty-eight federal government agencies operate a combined but undisclosed budget of about N8 trillion, an amount almost the size of the 2018 budget signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in June this year, it has been revealed

Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, revealed this yesterday on the sidelines of a capacity building workshop for House of Representatives members and support staff of financial crimes committee, an event organised by Human and Environment Developmental Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre.

He listed the leading agencies in this category as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

“There are 38 agencies of government whose budget runs into N8 trillion every year and it’s not open to Nigerian public. Example: CBN, NPA, NNPC, NIMASA, there are plenty. What the public is aware of is only the one presented by the president,” he said, even as he recalled that the National Assembly had always raised concerns over the reoccurring issue.

•Excerpted from a Leadership report