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Tag: Budget 2013

  • ‘43 died in A/Ibom road crashes in 2013’

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said it recorded 43 deaths and 100 road traffic crashes in Akwa Ibom in 2013.

    The Uyo Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Ocheja Ameh, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.

    Ameh explained that those who died in the crashes were 32 male, 10 female and one child.

    The sector commander said there was a decrease in the number of deaths recorded in 2013 as against 50 deaths recorded in 2012.

    He also said there was a reduction in the number of road crashes in the state in the year under review, pointing out that 131 road crashes occurred in the state in 2012.

    He attributed the reduction to rigorous sensitisation campaigns carried out by the command, especially in the last quarter of 2013.

    “As a matter of fact, in 2013 we recorded 100 road traffic crashes in Akwa Ibom State as against 131 that we had in 2012. Out of the number of crashes during the year, 31 were fatal; but in the previous year, we recorded 35 fatal crashes. We have put a lot of measures in place to reduce road crashes in the state.’’

    Ameh said the dominant causes of road crashes in the state were speed limit violations and dangerous driving.

    He, however, said the command had seriously campaigned against speed limit violations and dangerous driving in the state to reduce crashes this year.

    He added that the command would organise other programmes in 2014 to drastically reduce the number of road crashes in the state.

    He said: “we have been educating the public on the need to install speed limit devices in all commercial vehicles in the state.”

    Ameh told NAN that all stakeholders in the transport sector in Akwa Ibom had signed an agreement that there would be strict enforcement of the speed limit device installation.

    “We have started discussion with Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC), a major transporter in the state, and the company has started installing the devices in its vehicles,” he said.

    He added that the corps would enter into similar agreements with other transport companies in the state.

  • Budget 2013: Walking a tight rope

    Budget 2013: Walking a tight rope

    Correspondents VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI write on the 2013 budget row between President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly and its implications for budget implementation and good governance.

    Will the implementation of this year’s budget not create a deep friction between President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly? Now that the budget has been assented to by the President, stakeholders expect that attention will be focussed on how to make it achieve its objectives in the national interest.

    Until Wednesday, there was anxiety over the refusal of the President to assent to the budget. As the budget row deepened, some posers were raised: who blinks first between President Jonathan and the National Assembly? Will they close ranks in the spirit of compromise and harmonious working relationship? Will the President and legislators stick to their guns and damn the consequences?

    Observers contend that how the final decision on the budget was reached may shape the federal legislative/executive relationship. Whatever compromise that the two arms of government may have reached, two things are certain. The late passage of the 2015 budget is injurious to the socio-economic and political health of the country. The parliamentary skeptism may be have also been premised on the fear of imminent poor budget implementation and failure.

    The N4.987 trillion 2013 Appropriation Bill passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly on December 20, 2012 has generated controversy, since it was transmitted to President Goodluck Jonathan on January 14, 2013.

    Nigerians have been weary of the delay in passing the budget in the past. They now feel that the budget row may further deprive the country of the turn-around expected across the sectors. Thus, when the House of Representatives said that it would take a definite action on the budget, the public anxiety became heightened.

    House of Representatives spokesman, Zakari Mohammed,said last week that “it is either the President will assent to it or the National Assembly will veto it.” He added: “The National Assembly is not afraid to apply the provisions of the constitution on the issue because the budget is about the generality of Nigerians”.

    Now that the euphoria over the early presentation of the 2013 budget by President Goodluck Jonathan has fizzled out, the question on the lips of many Nigerians now is: what next?

    The National Assembly has engaged the Presidency to save its face. The Presidency has refused to retrace its steps, based on the advice by its economic team. But the impasse, according to analysts, is to the detriment of the people.

    The issues causing friction between the two arms of government include the benchmark, which the National Assembly has pegged at $78, to a barrel of oil, as opposed to the executive’s $75, the controversy over the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the capital component of 2012 budget and the quarterly budget performance briefing by the Finance Minister. All these are in the public domain.

    But there are other issues, which are not in the public domain. One of them is the allegation that the constituency projects components of the budgets for the past three years have always had a shortfall of N40 billion. According to a source, the National Assembly leadership often fails to account for the shortfall annually and this is one of the sore points withholding the assent of the President from the 2013 budget.

    Another reason for the friction, according to another source, is the allegation that the National Assembly leadership is requesting for some “advance” from the benchmark, which it jacked to $78 from $75 proposed by the Executive. Yet, the National Assembly is always quick to point out that its hands are clean and that it has not only done a good job on the 2013 budget, but it had concluded the assignment in time. Also, the legislators have always explained that the funds for the constituency projects are not given directly to them.

    When President Jonathan refused to assent to the budget, many people expected the National Assembly to override him, in consonance with the provision of Section 58 (5), of the 1999 Constitution. The section states that “where the President withholds assent and the bill is again passed by each House by the two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required”.

    The House spokesman, who had disclosed the National Assembly’s preparedness to override the President’s veto, reiterated that the legislators would thread the path of the constitution. Mohammed said: “The issue of the Director General (DG) of SEC and zero allocation for 2013 budget, the issue of roll over of 2012 budget is also there.This is because we took the decision in the House that the capital component of the 2012 budget should roll over to April of 2013

    “As at the time we were passing the budget for 2013, by Christmas, the fourth quarter allocation for 2013 was just being released and, if you are now going to mop up the funds by December 31, 2012, what happens to the funds? The tradition is that people would just misapply the funds and they will end up in private pockets. What can they accomplish with the funds within two weeks?

    “So, our position is that, why not give the agencies some time, so that the monies can be better applied in the needed areas. That is the spirit behind our position on that”.

    Mohammed further said: “Another area of contention is the matter of quarterly briefing of the House by the Minister of Finance.

    “The National Assembly is asking for this because we have been variously accused of not doing our oversight function properly and we are now saying quarterly, let the Finance Minister come around and brief us about budget performance.

    “The other areas is that of benchmark, but it is as serious as others. We have heard people saying we padded the budget and that was the reason for the delay, but this is not so because, before anything could be done, it has to be brought before the House again”.

    The on-going parliamentary and executive drama is confounding to many Nigerians. While the National Assembly has hesitated, despite its threats, to veto the President, the President has been questioning the power of the National Assembly by asking the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke, to interpret the constitution in order to decide who has the final power over appropriations.

    But why has the House, which that had earlier chided the Presideny for poor budget implementation, hesitate to carry out its threat to invoke Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers it to take the final decision on the budget, following the refusal of assent by the President?

    Sources close to the National Assembly confided that many legislators, especially those from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are afraid that the President may move against their second term ambition, using the instrumentality of the party.

    This current executive/legislative faceoff, observers point out, has implications for good governance. As the President receives bashing for poor budget implementation, the heat is also turning the heat on the legislators by indirectly proposing the prunning of the constituency projects and blocking other channels of concealed corruption.

    A source said the President’s economic team is worried that huge sums are being frittered annually by the MDAs and agencies that refuse to abide by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. But the legislators are also worried that the Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs) are treated as personal funds, projects are abandoned and resolutions are waived aside by the executive, making the National Assembly to look like a toothless bulldog.

    The mismanagement of the IGR was one of the factors that motivated the House of Representatives Committee on Finance to declare that it would set up an audit committee to conduct a forensic analysis of the expenditure and revenue generated by the federal government’s agencies.

    The chairman of the committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said that the audit committee would investigate the claim by the agencies that they have been operating at a loss and therefore, could not remit funds to the Federation Accounts as stipulated by law.

  • Budget 2013: Row over benchmark deepens

    Budget 2013: Row over benchmark deepens

    The disagreement between the Federal Government and the National Assembly over the benchmark for the 2013 budget is not about to abate.

    While the executive arm proposed $75 per barrel  as benchmark,the Senate  and the House of Representatives have adopted $79 for the same purpose and there are fears that the two sides may be on collision course  over the issue.

    There were indications yesterday that the National Assembly  may override President Goodluck Jonathan’s possible  veto of the  N4.98trillion budget.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, told The Nation that the law is clear on what the National Assembly should do if the President decides to withhold assent to any Bill.

    Abaribe said: “The law will take its course. Yes. And what the law says is that any Bill that is not assented to by the President after one month, then the National Assembly will override the veto. The law is clear.

     “The National Assembly will follow the Constitution which says we can override the veto.

    “I mean, the matter is always very clear. It is not something that is subject to any other interpretation. We will follow the dictates of the Constitution.”

    On the possibility of  a political solution  to the brewing crisis, Abaribe said: “Well, let me say that the agreement between the House and the Senate does not give room for any other manoeuvre because the rule of the National Assembly is that once you have a difference and you go to conference and you resolve that difference, you have no other room to bring it back again.

    “Except you now want us to review the whole document called the budget that has already been passed and I don’t think anybody is willing to do that.”

    In a  separate interview, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, said he believes President Jonathan would not want to go against the wishes of the Nigerian people as reposed in the National Assembly.

    “I don’t think the President will do that, but if he does, there are laid down procedures to deal with such an issue. I don’t think he will do that for the sake of the Nigerian people and in order to move the country forward,” Mohammed said.

    The House spokesman, however, said the objections of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to the increase in the benchmark were  personal opinions as the buck, this time around, stops at the President’s table.

    According to him, the House  was  also uncomfortable with the implementation of the capital projects in the 2012 budget and that was the reason for rolling over the capital components of the 2012 budget till the first quarter of 2013.

    The Chairman  of the House Committee on Legislative Compliance, Marouf Akinderu-Fatai,  said the National Assembly was reasonable in adopting the $79 benchmark  and  the President has no grounds  to withhold assent to the 2013 Appropriation Bill.

    He said:”If you ask me, the $79 adopted by the National Assembly is not even enough. The executive said they are saving the excess on the proposed $75 in the Excess Crude Account. That account is another way to cheat the states.

    “The question is: How much are we selling a barrel of crude? The truth of the matter is that there are so many loopholes. You just discover that they will tell you tomorrow that they have used the excess for subsidy. It’s like you are allowing some free money for some people to spend. I don’t see the President withholding assent on this particular budget.”

    Ali  Ahmad, Chairman, Committee on Justice said: “The $4 difference  is not up for negotiation. By the constitution, the National Assembly performs its functions through resolutions and bills. This one is already a bill and if he refuses to sign it, although I see no indication towards refusal, we shall invoke the residual constitutional powers.

    “Our benchmark stays even if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (which gratuitously campaigned for a lower benchmark) and their apologists don’t like it,” he added.

    Another member of the House, Raphael Igbokwe, who is the Deputy Chairman, FCT Committee said:

    “I believe the President is not one that would want to impose hardship on the people he is leading. Things might be tough today, I believe President Jonathan is doing his best to bring smiles to the faces of the greater majority of Nigerians.

    “Against this background, I believe he would look at the positives inherent in the slight increment of $4 and what it would do to address the specific purpose for which the National Assembly designed it for.

    “As a result of that, I believe he will accent to it just to avoid unpleasant event of crisis arising from his refusal because the National Assembly would not back down on the increment.

    “We are doing it for Nigerians and not for any particular interest group. The constitution empowers us to do this and we won’t be shy to invoke it, if it gets to that level.”

    However, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emordi, has ruled out any confrontation between the two  sides on the issue as they “have been working harmoniously, and if there is any issue of concern over the budget, the president, being a gentleman, will always use dialogue.

    “He is not the type that will resort to  fighting  them, rather he will go back to the method that they have both been using to get to this point of getting the budget passed on time and that is dialogue.

    “When things are bad I should know. There was never anytime things are that bad. I don’t expect any rift to come out of this.”

    On the possibility of getting the budget signed, she said it will be signed anytime in January, stressing that the president just got the passed budget and he would need to study it before appending his signature.

    She, however, assured that if there is any concern, it will be resolved amicably.

    She further stressed that whatever the president is doing is  for the good of the people, adding that all the president is concerned about is how to better the lots of the people.

  • Budget 2013: Reps condemn envelope system

    Budget 2013: Reps condemn envelope system

    • Query NEPAD over N60m security vote

    Members of the House of Representatives have condemned the adoption of the ‘Envelope Template’ for budget planning for Ministries, Departmements and Agencies (MDA) without considering individual peculiarities of the MDAs.

    Various House Committees that are engaging MDAs on the 2012 budget defencee and 2013 budget presentation, have condemned the envelope system, stating that it is detrimental to the economy.

    The lawmakers expressed their determination to address the issue with the 2013 budget. The envelope system requires that the MDAs adopt the estimates given in sealed envelops to the Ministry of Finance, with a designated officer assuming responsibility for collecting all allocations due each agency. Such designated official is also expected to account for all expenditures in respect of both capital and recurrent appropriations.

    Chairman, House Committee on Human Rights, Beni Lar during the budget defence of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), yesterday regretted that MDAs were not involved in budget preparation by the MDAs.

    Also, Chairman, Committee on Integration in Africa, Abubakar Momoh, also questioned the essence of the N60million security vote for 2013 for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as shown on the agency’s budget.

    Lar said: “This envelope system is not doing this nation any good; it is setting us back. It is our opinion that we have to find new ways of helping this country.

    “One can imagine that in a country that is short on infrastructural development, the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office would not find it expedient to have the input of the MDAs that actually know what they needed before being given whatever they feel.

    “It is disheartening to hear from one agency to the other that they have no input in the final budget proposal sent to the National Assembly by Mr President.

    “The Ministry of Finance should not just give a blanket amount to MDAs telling them to spend it anyhow they can. If they spend the money given to them anyhow, they can. Won’t they be violating the Appropriation Act if they really want to meet their needs with the inconsiderate envelope thrown at them by the Presidency?” he asked.

    On his part, Chairman of the Committee, Abubakar Momoh, who had earlier accused NEPAD and the Institute for Conflict Resolution (ICPR) of conspiracy for failing to submit their budget presentations earlier, noted that the envelope system was a deservice to the development of the country.

    On scrutinising the NEPAD budget, the Chairman of the Committee asked the Special Assistant to the President on NEPAD, Dr Tunji Olagunju the necessity for the security vote .

    “We are aware that NEPAD has no security issue to address on its own, and one wonders what use the teaching aids and laboratories would be for the agency.

    “This is an organisation that clearly needs funds in some critical areas knowing that its mandate transcends the shores of this country. The impact of its mandate on the growth of this country cannot be overemphasized.

    “It is the opinion of this Committee that the envelope system is retrogressive and it showed that they were not carried along in the preparation of the budget.

    “The MDAs should be involved in the planning of the budget and that is the only way through which they can be effective”.

    While the budget presentation of the Human Rights Commission was approved, NEPAD was asked to go back and prepare a comprehensive document for presentation on another day, as the one presented was trashed for being incomprehensible.

  • Budget 2013: Experts condenm zero allocation to sector

    Budget 2013: Experts condenm zero allocation to sector

    Insufficient allocation to housing in budgets has been a major problem. The government is yet to match its talk on adequate housing with action. Last year, the allocation to the sector was N24.9 billion. So, it was with high hopes that stakeholders waited for the 2013 Budget, which President Goodluck Jonathan presented last week, believing it would, at least, be an improvement. But their hopes were dashed; the budget was silent on the sector. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE writes that the sector may not witness any growth next year, except some measures are taken by the government to lift it. Stakeholders also criticised the government on the ongoing 24,000 housing units projects and the 6,000 units deal with states, saying they are insignificant in the face of the huge deficit of 16 million units

    Budget 2013 termed “Fiscal consolidation with inclusive growth,” may have taken care of or boosted some sectors of the economy, but not so with the housing sector because it neglected its challenges.

    In developed economies, the sector is used to measure the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but not in Nigeria where its contributions to the GDP is minimal that it is not reckoned with.

    Although the government has introduced some programmes to provide affordable housing to a large percentage of the population, they remain a rhetoric because their impact has not been felt.

    While presenting the 2013 Budget at the National Assembly, President Goodluck Jonathan said: “The provision of affordable housing is one of the administration’s strategic imperatives for guaranteeing our citizens’ productivity and well-being. We are creating an enabling environment for the private sector to produce the much needed housing, while creating jobs in the process.

    “To facilitate this, I will be holding a presidential retreat on housing in early November, to discuss policy and modalities for dealing with land titling issues, developing an affordable mortgage finance system and reducing the high cost of housing construction.”

    He said under various housing programmes, about 2,000 housing units have been completed, while over 24,000 others were at various stages of completion. These are aside the houses being constructed for the use of the Armed Forces and paramilitary services.

    In addition, the President said the Federal Government had entered into partnerships with some states to provide 6,000 housing unit.

    So far, about 600 housing units under the direct construction scheme of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in some states have been completed.

    According to him, these will ensure that more Nigerians enjoy the benefits of having their own homes.

    Observers are wondering how all these, especially when there is no budgetary figure tied to housing, will make a difference in the face of a bourgeoning housing deficit and growth of slums in the cities.

    In the 2012 Budget, Lands, Housing & Urban Development received N24.9 billion but, this year, no figure was allocated to it. Analysts are wondering what may have given rise to such neglect. While some attributed the anomaly to the government’s lack of understanding of the complexities of the sector, others believe the government does not attach importance to the welfare of its citizens in terms of their accommodation and has, therefore, left each one to take his destiny in his hand.

    A developer and Managing Director, Fine Homes Ltd, Mr Afam Icheku, while criticising the paltry figures of housing projects by the Federal Government, which didn’t add up to 30,000 units in the face of a need of over 16 million houses, said nothing in the budget suggested that the government was working towards encouraging home ownership.

    He predicted that there would be an increase in slums with only the rich able to build and own decent houses.

    The National Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Institute of Builders (NIOB), Mr Kunle Awobodu, in his assessment of the 2013 Budget as it relates the housing sector, said there was no reason to cheer in the sector.

    He criticised the government on the planned one million houses proposed for this year, which never saw the light of day, wondering how the huge housing gap could be closed.

    Awobodu berated the government for not taking housing seriously. In addition, he criticised governments for not engaging professionals to deliver the little they are doing in the sector, to maximise the resources put into such projects.

    A former President of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Mr Kashim Ali, was not happy with the government for positioning the housing ministry as an implementation agency rather than a policy organ.

    He regretted the zero budget on housing and asked the ministry to sit up and reposition agencies, such as the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Federal Mortgage Bank, to operate like commercial enterprises to deliver on their mandates.

    Ali urged the ministry to offer incentives to the private sector with easy access to land, tax holidays, and reduced cost of building materiald to engineer them to provide affordable housing.

  • Budget 2013: House rejects Oct. 4 presentation

    Budget 2013: House rejects Oct. 4 presentation

    President Goodluck Jonathan would not be presenting the 2013 budget on October 4 as earlier scheduled before the joint session of the National Assembly, it emerged yesterday.

    Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal had onTuesday read a letter from President Jonathan conveying his intention to present the 2013 budget at a joint session on October 4.

    The lawmakers maintained that it was impossible for them to consider the acceptance of the presentation of the 2013 budget while the 2012 budget is having issues as the President was yet to convince Nigerians on the implementation of the current budget.

    The House of Representatives said it would not be able to complete the scrutiny of the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy  (MTEFF) paper as well as engage relevant government agencies concerned with the document before the said date.

    According to the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, (PDP, Kwara), the House has  also suspended plenary for next week to conduct oversight  on physical inspection of infrastructural projects nationwide.

    The indication of the imminent postponement  was dropped by the Chairman, House Committee on Finance,  Abudmumin Jibrin (PDP, Kano), who also doubled as the  Chairman of the Joint Committee saddled with the responsibility of scrutinising the document at the plenary yesterday.

    Saying that though the preliminary  process of detail examination of the document has commenced, Abudmumin Jubrin informed the floor that “Knowing the implication and importance of the document to the presentation of the budget by Mr. president, it is practically impossible to engage all the relevant government agencies involved with the document.

    “We have to invite agencies like the Ministry of Finance, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and several others”.

    Jibrin stressed that considering the limited time interval before the Presidential presentation, more time would be needed by the Committee in order to be able to do a thorough job on the document.

    The Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal asked the Committee to continue with it’s work on the basis that the passage of the MTEF  is a prerequisite for the presentation of the Budget by the President.

    The House Spokesman, at the weekly media interaction said the importance of the oversight function cannot be overemphasized, while  pointing  out that the stance of the lower chamber was not a muscle flexing against the executive.

    “The question of Mr. President coming to present the budget on 4th is ruled out because by next week  we are not going to be available. Also, the MTEF must definitely be looked into first, by law and convention before the budget for the incoming year is considered.

    “These are issues of law, it is not about the House trying to flex muscles. Maybe later, a letter of convenient  day would be fixed for Mr. President to come and present the budget.

    “We are considering an aspect of the 2012 budget and not yet completed, yet another one is coming. 4th October is just not realistic, we are going on the oversight and be back  on 9th,” he said.