The Nation Newspaper

Tag: budget

  • Who moved my budget?

    Remember the 1988 bestseller, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson? It is actually a business fable of a kind which central message is man’s inability to anticipate change and adapt.

    You know what they say about comfort zone: most of us adults are cast in, and are comfortable with our daily routines. Hardball,  for instance, would love to always sit pretty in his air-conditioned office, behind his desktop computer churning out mashed meals of suppositions, extrapolations and juxtapositions all garnished with ample dollops of mischief.

    Every working day the blighter goes to the office and in the same position; he diddles his doodling, he goes home feeling cool and satisfied he had done a day’s job. He does this for weeks, months and years and he is at peace with himself that contributes so much to help reshape the society.

    But the world is so large and there are millions of other things he could have occupied himself with and done the world even greater good, however, he made no such choices. That is the tragedy of that factor known as comfort zone. That is the tragedy of most men. When you are ensconced in your comfort zone, you are inured to the world. You do not see change coming; when it happens upon you and kicks you hard in the butt, you complain and whimper; most not knowing what hit them don’t even know how to respond.

    Such is the story of the characters in Who Moved My Cheese? Four characters living in a maze; they wake every morning and go to the cheese station to chop cheese. One day the cheese finished. While the duo of rats knew well enough to move on to search out more cheese stations in the maze, the other duo of humans engaged in throwing blames, casting aspersions and lamenting their fate. Who moved our cheese? they wonder and ponder for many days, instead of moving on and exploring new grounds.

    Very well then, who moved our budget? You want to ask? Yes we can actually bring the analogy home and apply it to Nigeria’s federal budget. The first quarter of the year has long passed, yet this government has been unable to get its Appropriation Bill for 2016 ready and active. Ironically, it is a government of change but none seems to have imbibed the fundaments of change.

    So, like some of the hapless characters in Johnson’s famous book, everyday since the beginning of this year we wake up to hear that the budget is missing; oh some figures have been tweaked by shifty-eyed legislators; ah the finance minister suffers from arithmetical deficiency; yepaa, the budget is now strapped with pads, etc.

    But in this bewildering fiscal melee, none seems to have fathomed that it is simply a change issue. The new government of APC is using the same PDP cauldron and recipe for its budget broth and it expects a different soup. Apart from a few changes in personnel, it is the same presidency, same MDAs and same NASS.  After 16 years of binge-budgeting, someone comes around and deploys the same template, yet wonders who stole his budget?

    Is there such thing as electronic template for a CHANGE?

  • President should assent the budget

    SIR: Almost a year down the line, the conditions of living of the citizenry have only gone from bad to worse,   the APC government has continued to blame every of their unpreparedness on the “atrocities” and “misgovernance” of the 16 years of PDP rule.

    The fact that the APC isn’t fully prepared for governance has been exposed through the series of crises and supremacy battles that the party have been enmeshed in since they took over the mantle of leadership. It became glaring that APC has no iota of idea or solution to the lingering problems and challenges confronting this country when some individuals and leaders of the party, instead of lending a voices and advising the president on how best to get Nigerians out of the present unbearable economic hardship, have continued to engage themselves in a battle for control of the soul of the party. The way and manner the APC has conducted itself so far since the crisis that characterized the selection of leaders of the National Assembly, the Kogi State gubernatorial election logjam, and the ongoing travails of the Senate President, to which the party has remained mute has portrayed the APC as a political party that is not well organized and lacked the capacity to resolve simple crisis.

    The controversies that have characterized the 2016 budget cannot be unconnected with the division and disunity in the APC. And just as Nigerians were expecting President Buhari to assent the 2016 Appropriation Bill already passed by the National Assembly, the executive instead is set to begin another round of controversy accusing the National Assembly of deliberately altering the budget by expunging some key capital projects only to replace them with others that are not in tune with the policy and thinking of the present government.

    The presidency and the APC should be properly advised on the implication of a further delay in assenting the budget on the wellbeing of Nigerians who are already passing through the most inhumane and extremely difficult economic challenges. There is no justifiable point in withholding or delaying assent since the President is empowered by law to transmit a supplementary budget which would capture the capital projects in contention to the National Assembly.  It’s high time the APC puts it house in order and stop grounding governance to a halt as a result of the “cold war” and crisis in the party. President Buhari should as a matter of urgency assume the leadership position of the APC and call the shots forthwith to curb the excesses of a few individuals who have constituted themselves into a cabal, using their vantage positions in the party to create chaos.

    The President should sign the budget now and commence its speedy implementation; this is what Nigerians and Nigeria needs at the moment. We have suffered enough!

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • Civil society groups seek ‘strict’ budget implementation

    Civil society groups seek ‘strict’ budget implementation

    Some civil society organisa-tions have urged the Plateau State government to implement its budget in a manner that will guarantee good governance, transparency, accountability and alleviate poverty.

    The civil society groups sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said the measure is to ensure that citizens of the state feel the impact of their government through provisions of basic social amenities as stipulated in government’s annual budget for the overall good of the populace.

    The Simon Lalong administration has tabled the state 2016 budget worth N154 billion before the state House of Assembly for deliberation.

    The four CSOs are Search For Common Ground(SFCG), West African Youth Network (WAYN), Community Action for Popular Participation(CAPP) and Leadership Initiative for Good Governance in Africa (LIGGA)

    Programme Manager of Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP) Mr. Nelson Ananze who revealed their project in a town hall meeting held at Carbinet Office at Plateau state secretariat Jos said, “The project is one of the ways civil society organizations influence government policies so as to enhance good governance in the state.

    Mr. Amanze said, “Four civil society organisations sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), are currently undertaking a project on good governance in the country, particularly in Bauchi, Plateau and River states, respectively. We have the mandate to work in the various states in different thematic areas towards a positive impact on the lives and livelihood of the people as well the general development of a state.

    “These areas of concern are education, human right, conflict management and peace building, environment, health, gender, youth, persons living with disability, excluded and marginalized groups, accountability and transparency.

    The Plateau State Head of Service Mr. Izang Azi who spoke on behalf of government, said, “The current economic reality has placed so much responsibility of budget implementation on citizens as well as government because government has to rely on tax paid by citizens to provide social amenities. If people pay their tax responsibly, government will use the same tax to provide all that is needed to make life meaningful to its citizens in a transparent manner.

    “This administration has commenced sensitisation of the general public on tax payment and government has also promised to be transparent in the application of what ever that is collected through tax. But at the end of the day, if citizens refuse to pay tax, government’s aim of providing social amenities will be defeated.”

  • Budget 2016 crisis rages on

    Budget 2016 crisis rages on

    Lagos-Calabar rail project ‘not included’

    Talks open to avert showdown

    The row over the budget is deepening.

    House of Representatives Appropriation Committee Chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin reacted angrily yesterday to the report that President Muhammadu Buhari was stopped by ministers from signing the 2016 Appropriation Bill because of its “mutilation” by lawmakers.

    The lawmakers were accused of removing crucial capital projects from the document and inserting some items not originally included.  But Jubrin (APC Kano State), took to twitter to denounce the executive for the report. He exonerated the lawmakers from any wrong doing.

    He said in a series of tweets:  ”The Lagos-Calabar Rail was never included (in the budget estimates). How could NASS (National Assembly) have removed what was not there? But the nation is being misled.

    “All they and those spreading the false information needed to have done is check the initial document sent by the Executive.

    “The Executive seems to favour a top-down approach. But this is not enough reason to mislead Nigerians on the role of NASS on the budget.

    “I actually find it shocking that even some national dailies made the removal (of Lagos-Calabar railway project) their headlines. A little research would have helped. This is unfortunate as it is quite clear to all and sundry that 2016 Budget and all its headaches and controversies didn’t emanate from NASS. The NASS has always been on the receiving end of bad press. This is being capitalised on in the conversations on the budget.

    “Take the budget of the Ministry of Transportation, which was overshot by N54b. That is, by the time you add up the items on the ministry’s budget, you would still have a gap of N54 billion. The money was lying there without being allocated. NASS has a responsibility and it did the right thing. We added N39.7billion (from the unallocated N54 billion) to the Lagos-Kano Rail project. This will help complete the project once and for all.”

    Jibrin noted that N10 billion of the unallocated fund was added to aviation sector’s budget to provide airport navigation system and security apparatus. The balance, he said, was allocated to Baro Ports for its completion and equipping. “Baro Port is strategic to our economic development,” he tweeted.

    The House Appropriation Committee chairman said the National Assembly found the budget of Ministry of Health as most controversial, criticising Minister Isaac Adewole for denying the ministry’s budget after it was represented by the executive.

    He also accused the executive of discarding the input made to the 2016 Budget by the National Assembly, saying: “Some of our input, including special intervention for rural agriculture, payment of pension arrears, Rural Community Light project, special intervention for the Solid Mineral sector, special programmes for women, payment of debt owed local contractors, and another N50 billion for special training on Entrepreneurship for students of tertiary institutions pre-graduation, were discarded.

    “These points are being noted because of the reports in some of today’s (yesterday) papers. Not to mention the fact that the Executive has not come out to disown the false reports flying around. (Journalists) would have done better with a little more research. We will come up with a comprehensive position, especially with respect to our observation of the budget and what we did to make it better.”

    On the issues relating to the Ministry of Health, he said it was not true that the money meant for vaccines and AIDS treatment in the budget was reallocated to the Code of Conduct Bureau. There was no allocation for vaccines, he said.

    “The Minister of Health came to deny the document that was presented to the NASS by the Executive for the second time. Much ado about vaccines that weren’t even there? The budget of the Ministry of Health was the most controversial.

    The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Abdulrasak Namdaz, said:

    “What we did in respect of the budget was in good faith. We share in the vision and mission of the President. That was why we passed the supplementary budget in record time without hitches

    “This is the first time both the President and ourselves are working together. We will not do anything to delay the thinking of the President. We will get to understand ourselves later

    “I pray that Nigerians will understand that we are working for the same people that elected us. When you have a budget, certain things will be added and others removed.  That does not mean it is done in bad faith.”

    The National Assembly gave the details of the budget to the Executive last Thursday after which an emergency meeting of the Federal Executive Council was called on Friday to properly scrutinise the document where it was found out that the lawmakers removed some key components of the government’s policy plank and inserted some items not included by the executive.

    Among the items removed is the legacy Coastal railway Calabar-Lagos project, whose N60 billion counterpart funding had been paid. The project is also one of the reasons President Muhammadu Buhari is in China on a week-long visit.

    The votes for the completion of the Idu-Kaduna rail project was cut by N8.7billion. Proposals for the funding of essential drugs for major health campaigns against AIDS and Polio were said to have been removed.

    There was diversion to rural health facilities and boreholes for which provisions were not made. Allocations for projects under agriculture and water resources were either removed or slashed.

  • Kebbi signs budget into law

    Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has signed the 2016 budget into law.

    The event was held at the chamber of the Government House, Birnin-Kebbi.

    The Appropriation Bill totalling one hundred and nine billion, seven hundred and fifty two million, five hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred naira (N109,752, 520,500) was assented to by the governor at the instance of members of his executive council (exco) and lawmakers.

    The governor promised that the budget would be implemented 100 per cent to boost agriculture and other economic development.

    He said following the fire, which gutted the Birnin Kebbi Central Market, the executive arm would liaise with the legislature for supplementary appropriation.

    Bagudu hailed the legislators for quick deliberation on the budget. He described it as unique.

    The governor said his administration generated investment close to N20 billion in rice and wheat production.

    He hoped that this year’s dry season farming will record a bumper harvest.

  • Photo: Buhari, Osinbajo meet on budget

    Photo: Buhari, Osinbajo meet on budget

    President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Budget and National Planning Senator Udoma Udo Udoma putting heads together on the way forward for the 2016 Budget.April 10, 2016.
    President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Budget and National Planning Senator Udoma Udo Udoma putting heads together on the way forward for the 2016 Budget.April 10, 2016.

  • Legislature’s job not to prepare budget estimates for executive

    SIR: The current face – off between the Presidency and the National Assembly (NASS) over whether or not the President should sign into law the 2016 Budget passed by the National Assembly without the details of the heads of expenditure estimates allocated to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS) provides Nigerians a unique opportunity to reflect and determine once and for all, whether it is the duty of legislators to prepare estimates for MDAS. The current controversy has arisen because, according to reports, the NASS had sent “estimates of the budget” as passed to the President for signing into law while it was still working on the details of the allocations to the various MDAS. I strongly maintain the view that the duty of legislators is not to prepare the estimates of MDA’s but to vet and approve estimates of MDA’s presented by the executive. For the National Assembly therefore, to expect the Presidency to sign into law budget items without details of the allocations to spending MDA’s smacks of a fundamental breach to the doctrine of separation of powers. It seems the legislature is attempting to take over the responsibility for policy execution which properly belongs to the executive arm of government.

    Attempts to gloss over and compromise this fundamental principle of separation of powers in a presidential system are fraught with grave dangers for the realization of democracy and good governance anchored on unhindered access to information, accountability, and service delivery. For instance, if the President as the head of the executive arm has no prior information as to what the legislature allocates to a ministry as an executive agency, he may not be able to properly direct and co-ordinate programme implementation. Budget padding and financial leakages can easily go on undetected. Secondly, if the legislature allocates fund to projects not captured in the manifesto of the President, the legislature could find it difficult to hold it to account for performance, while the electorates who voted on the basis of the President’s manifesto are short changed.

    Moreover, the oversight role of the legislature could be held in suspect if it is perceived that it is the same legislature that initiated and sponsored the allocation outside the knowledge of executive, who is also going out for auditing. On the other hand, legislative oversight will be more meaningful if it is believed that it is being carried out with utmost integrity and desire to preserve the independence of the legislative arm.

    Considering the implications, our National Assembly has a duty to help strengthen our nascent democracy by conducting the management of public finance with strict discipline even though they may have the freedom to legislate on any and all aspects of governance. It is for this reason that Section 81(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended specifically states as follow:

    “The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditures of the Federation for the next following financial year.”

    In other words, while the National Assembly has the power to pass the Appropriation Bill, due process and the doctrine of separation of powers demand that it should only pass the Bill on the basis of estimates duly prepared and laid before it by the President. The legislature ought not to presume and proceed to estimate and allocate monies the President does not ask for via an estimate presented by him. Unless those driving our on-going processes of evolving a culture of presidential system of government rooted in transparency, separation of powers, service delivery and accountability imbibe these fundamental disciplines, our journey to good governance could take longer than necessary.

     

    • Sir Sunday U. Akpan,

    Akwa Ibom State.

  • Budget and its myths

    Budget and its myths

    With the reported passing of the budget by the National Assembly last week, the game of endurance to which Nigerians have been subjected would appear to be over. Barring that the issues raised by the President on the budget becoming another occasion for mutual recriminations and needless showmanship, Nigerians can heave a sigh of relief that the balm in finally at their doorsteps.

    Thanks to the enduring myth that everything begins and ends with what government chooses to do or not to do, the ritual of budget and budgeting have come to acquire the character of a fetish. The manufacturer, we are told, needs to know the direction government is headed before plodding on; same for our flight-by-night portfolio investor friends – they can’t seem to find the nerves to do anything until the budget is passed! Even the farmer, we are told, has learnt to hold back his cropping plans for the fear of the government magic called the budget! Hopefully, their nightmares are over!

    Agreed, the budget is an important document. Not only does it lay out the government‘s financial plan, the statement embodies its philosophy and its priorities in a given year. To that extent, it is very important. My point of departure is when the instrument is elevated to the level of fetish – in which case it becomes an alibi for doing nothing!

    Let me state that this year’s budget is important in more ways than one for the Buhari administration. First, beyond the fact that it is the administration’s first budget in office, the wave of expectation that swept it into office makes it a defining one.  Added to that is that the budget is coming at a particularly difficult time – a period of low oil revenues at a time of massive infrastructure gaps, worrisomely low industrial cum manufacturing capacity and low consumer spending. Indeed, those understandably were the challenges Budget 2016 sought to confront. Expansive in ambitions, it coming was to herald the proverbial crossing of the Red Sea.

    I have argued elsewhere that the N350 billion set aside for capital spend in the 2016 Budget is a huge amount by any standard. Even by Nigeria’s profligate standards, it represents a haul, which, well applied could go a long way to make a difference to the parlous infrastructural situation – even if, as we know, that the tidy sum, in the hand of our thieving cabal may be no more than ‘chicken change’ to service their idle fantasies. This is where the long-suffering Nigerians who have in the past few weeks endured the sweltering sun in vain search for fuel to buy, the citizens currently under the throes of insomnia from the unbearable heat after being sucked into the evil devices of the utility companies, and for whom the administration had promised relief, would need to pray!

    Let me proceed by setting out some of the myths that have endured about our budgets against the backdrop of what the budget cannot do. First is the idea of the budget as cure-all pills to our many troubles. It is certainly not! As a financial statement, what it does is set out parameters for what is achievable in a given year – and this to the extent that the constraining variables would allow. This is where the ritual of shadow-boxing comes to me as a great distraction. If you ask me, I’ll say that the time spent picking needless quarrels on the budget details would be better saved to ensure that citizens get value for every kobo spent!

    I have looked at Budget 2016. I have no reason to see it as more of the same as some critics are wont to do. The intentions are certainly grand as the motif is fascinating. For the throng out there who see government as catalyst, the expansionary budget should resonate in a positive way. The truth however is that the 2016 Budget outlay is at best a tiny droplet in the ocean of the nation’s infrastructural needs. For instance, in June last year, this newspaper quoted Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) 2011 Report as estimating that Nigeria required sustained spending of $14.2 billion per annum over the next decade in order to address the infrastructure challenge. That is some 45 percent of the entire 2016 Budget – to be spent exclusively for infrastructure upgrade alone! And this at a time we are celebrating 30 percent capital votes as great achievement!  The newspaper also quoted former Finance Minister and Coordinator of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as putting the sum needed for road upgrades, bridge repairs, the energy sector, hospitals and schools at a whopping N10.63 trillion ($67 billion). Again, if we compare with the entire 2016 Budget of N6.06 trillion; the stark reality of what we face comes very clear.

    I do not deny the potential impact of a well structured budget intervention can make. By this I mean the direct impact of the upgrade of the infrastructure on the cost of doing business and the multiplier effects of the massive spending at this time. It is however a different matter to pretend that we are anywhere near the Eldorado when we are in fact a long way from home!

    The above scenario comes to one basic truth: government’s role comes to a minor scratch given what is needed to turn things around. The crux of the challenge is how to meet the funding gap. In this, we certainly have a good idea of where to turn to help – the private sector. This is where the government needs to put more efforts.

    Perhaps I need to make the distinction here: I do not here refer to the oft-touted portfolio investor who have long mastered the art of reaping without really sowing, the throng that is loudest in promoting and adorning sundry in-equities under the garb of liberalisation; the club ever so ready to hit the wires at the onset of trouble.

    I am here talking here of genuine investors who truly appreciate and are willing to take advantage of the nation’s vast potentials to invest. Trust me: with the right ambience and incentives, they’ll come trooping in!

    Finally, one thing which the budget will never address is the fuel crisis. Today, the crisis has not only reached the boiling point, it has metastasised to such an extent that the nation current chaffs under its debility. I refer here to the 40 percent of the entire forex outlay spent on fuel importation. Picture the difference it would make to the naira if we didn’t need to spend that amount on fuel importation. Can anyone imagine the other countless possibilities from that prospect? We need those kind of multipliers fast!

  • Civil society groups seek ‘strict’ budget implementation

    Some civil society organisa-tions have urged the Plateau State government to implement its budget in a manner that will guarantee good governance, transparency, accountability and alleviate poverty.

    The civil society groups sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said the measure is to ensure that citizens of the state feel the impact of their government through provisions of basic social amenities as stipulated in government’s annual budget for the overall good of the populace.

    The Simon Lalong administration has tabled the state 2016 budget worth N154 billion before the state House of Assembly for deliberation.

    The four CSOs are Search For Common Ground(SFCG), West African Youth Network (WAYN), Community Action for Popular Participation(CAPP) and Leadership Initiative for Good Governance in Africa (LIGGA)

    Programme Manager of Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP) Mr. Nelson Ananze who revealed their project in a town hall meeting held at Carbinet Office at Plateau state secretariat Jos said, “The project is one of the ways civil society organizations influence government policies so as to enhance good governance in the state.

    Mr. Amanze said, “Four civil society organisations sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), are currently undertaking a project on good governance in the country, particularly in Bauchi, Plateau and River states, respectively. We have the mandate to work in the various states in different thematic areas towards a positive impact on the lives and livelihood of the people as well the general development of a state.

    “These areas of concern are education, human right, conflict management and peace building, environment, health, gender, youth, persons living with disability, excluded and marginalized groups, accountability and transparency.

    The Plateau State Head of Service Mr. Izang Azi who spoke on behalf of government, said, “The current economic reality has placed so much responsibility of budget implementation on citizens as well as government because government has to rely on tax paid by citizens to provide social amenities. If people pay their tax responsibly, government will use the same tax to provide all that is needed to make life meaningful to its citizens in a transparent manner.

    “This administration has commenced sensitisation of the general public on tax payment and government has also promised to be transparent in the application of what ever that is collected through tax. But at the end of the day, if citizens refuse to pay tax, government’s aim of providing social amenities will be defeated.”

  • Why govt should insure 2016 budget, by insurers

    Chieftains of the insurance industry have advised the government to insure the 2016 budget.

    According to them, spending without protection or security will lead to a waste of government’s resources.

    The Director-General, Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), Sunday Thomas in a chat with The Nation, said insurers have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that insurance cover is obtained by the Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies (MDAs) for the execution of both capital and recurrent expenditure of the budget.

    He said he met with officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and discussed the role of insurance in building the economy. He cited the loan and facilities the Federal Government wants to give to youths as an example, noting that the programme should have an insurance content to avoid waste of resources.

    He said: “I attended a meeting with the CBN where we discussed the roles that insurance can play in building the economy. It was a meeting on inclusion. It was noted that one of the cardinals of this regime is to empower the people and this cannot be without insurance. They want to give loans and facilities to youth, but what is the insurance content. There should be a kind of life insurance to back it up. They must always give allowance for failure. Do they want to keep bringing money when there is failure?

    “What or how will government ensure the monies to be spent on infrastructure are secured? What is sustainability plan? What is the insurance content in the roads they want build. Is government thinking of mortgage and the insurance content among others?

    “At the meeting, they said it did not occur to them. I told them that whatever they are packaging, they should have insurance to avoid waste that characterised government spending in the past. They should avoid situations where money is spent by government and huge amount are wasted because there is no insurance. “

    The CBN, he said, is now ready to key into insurance because they now understand what they should do, stressing that all they need to do as insurers is to develop products that can meet these needs. “By so doing, we are creating wealth and people who are employed can insure,” he said.

    The Executive Director, Leadway Assurance, Mrs. Adetola Adegbayi urged governments at all levels to protect the spending of budget provisions with insurance.

    According to her, insurance enables the economy because it is a supporter, a protection and security for life and assets. She encouraged all MDAs that have been allocated budget to insure their budgets.

    “All ministries like ministry of works, depending on where they are putting the money have to do their own insurance. Apart from the group life which is for centralised employees or key assets, each parastatal and agency has its own insurances to do. So, they should all insure.

    “Insurance is a support and security mechanism. It is embedded within the economy or outside the people within that economy to make everything go smoothly. Also, insurance is only dominant when people begin to understand what insurance is about and carries the message. Lekki Gardens for example was found not to be insured. So, insurance can only be dominant when people that are meant to insure are insuring.

    “I encourage people to see insurance as fulfilling selfish interest especially for those who are meant to insure compulsorily. When people see insurance as a selfish aspect by feeling, I need to insure my assets so that I can recover my assets through insurance if anything happens, it will be easy for them to set aside little premium needed for insurance,” she said.

    Adegabyi, however, called on insurers to create more awareness and be accessible to the public.