In January, 2016, this writer didn’t have the privilege to dissect President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year message chiefly because there was an urgent need to address the humongous appropriations contained in the Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly at that time. Besides, the Christmas had been ‘celebrated’ with mournful solemnity by most families and it was important that one drew the attention of government to the puzzling financial allocations in its budgetary documents at a period when it was asking the people to tighten up their belts for an economic recession. Yes, Buhari did promise the citizenry better days in his first speech on New Year’s day as a democratically-elected President but there was simply nothing in the administration’ first national budget proposal to convince one that those in the seat of power would conform to the President’s famed ascetic lifestyle. Instead, what confronted us as a people was the fact that, even with its new ‘Change’ mantra, the administration would still have to pander to the questionable inputs and official frivolities that have been recurring decimals in our appropriation policy over the years. In that budget, billions of Naira was marked down as expenses on things worth not being repeated here. Those who wish to refresh their memory may wish to go through a piece published on this page on January 2, 2016 titled “Of Pain, Gain and Change.”
Interestingly, as I settle down to put my thoughts together on this week’s piece this January 2, 2019, the first news item that popped up on my news flash was on the details of the 2019 budget. You see, when the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, tore into shred, the N8.83trn 2019 budget, describing it as “hopeless and deceptive” based on the benchmark which he said was higher than the current price of barrel of oil in the international market, you would have thought the man was knocking the truth on the head without a tint of treacherous politicking which Saraki and his ilk are known for. But that would be too simplistic a bait to swallow when available facts indicate that the National Assembly, with its adversarial role in the last three and a half years, has continued to stick to its tradition of farming billions of Naira to its own nest. It is, therefore, not surprising that, once again, the National Assembly is poised to get a one-off allocation of N125bn in the 2019 projections without a breakdown of what the money would be used for. Ask its leadership what it did with the allocations of the previous years and you are likely to get the standard response that whatever was allocated to the legislature was a mere insignificant percentage considering the entire budget figures. Perhaps, that also justifies why legislatives aides hardly get paid on time regardless of the huge sums paid to lawmakers monthly, outside the official allocations, to maintain offices that are often under lock and key as they go on recess at every drop of a pin!
In as much as no one expects a legislature that is sold to its own shenanigans to be taken seriously, it is imperative for the President to always take a second look at the allocations to The Presidency before forwarding same to the National Assembly while ministers should be mandated to do same with Ministries, Departments and Agencies. As regards The Presidency, certain things just shouldn’t be allowed to creep into the list especially in an administration that promises change. For example, why, for the life of me, allocate almost N800m for the “mandatory upgrade and installation of live TV and internet service” on one of the presidential jets when it could have been converted to commercial use since it has such features? Who are the important personalities flying these jets anyway? If Buhari had sold off most of these jets in the presidential fleet as he threatened to do during the 2015 political campaigns, the government wouldn’t have been burdened with the responsibility of requesting for various sums of huge allocation to carry out a ‘compliance mandatory upgrade and installation of internet service on a second presidential aircraft (N50m)” and another upgrades on “other presidential air fleet” worth N650m. It is not just about how these characters bandy figures around and leave poor Nigerians aghast but also about probity and accountability which they promised with so much gusto four years ago. When the executive says that, in 2019 alone, it plans to spend N4.3bn on “annual maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations in Aso Rock outside the millions of naira that would go into foodstuffs/catering materials and refreshments, you cannot help but wonder if the leadership is not bent on eating the rest of the populace into poverty.
Yearly, we criticise the National Assembly for spending billions on the purchase of cars for its members and bureaucracy. But has anyone bothered to take an inventory of vehicle purchase by The Presidency? It has become a ritual that defies logic and common sense. If there is anything this administration has wittingly or unwittingly consigned to the dustbin of history, it is the monetization policy of the President Olusegun Obasanjo era. Today, it is not uncommon to see top government officials riding in convoys in Abuja. The other day at the Federal Secretariat, yours truly bumped into the convoy of the Head of Service of the Federation and wondered who could be after the life of such ‘poor’ public servant that she has to move under heavy security presence. I marvel at the array of cars on display in that convoy. Even some serving ministers can’t boast of such lifestyle. Anyway, someone muttered that some privileged directors do have escorts too. And that’s probably why the State House plans to spend a whopping N607m in 2019 for the “phased replacement of vehicles, spares and tyres” in its operational fleet while another N53m would go into the purchase of tyres for bullet proof vehicles, plain Toyota cars, CVU vehicles, Land Cruiser and Prado jeeps, ambulances and other utility operational vehicles. This, I must stress, is outside the N456m that would be spent on acquiring security and operational vehicles by the Office of the Chief Security Officer to the President. Phew!
Sometimes, you just wonder when things would begin to change for the better as Buhari promised us in 2016. The answer seems far off. Do we assume that the President is unaware of the saying that the devil is in the details? Shouldn’t it concern all of us that too many loose words are being used to justify the allocation of scarce resources? Why is The Presidency vague on the number, type, models and brands of the ‘operational vehicles’ that would be purchased, serviced, sold or phased out? What, if I may ask, is so special about a detention facility that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would be spending over N2bn to complete the one in Gombe State; another N3.1bn to expand the one in Port Harcourt; and over N2.6bn for the Maiduguri detention camp? Well, as it is, this country must be brimming with corrupt elements that we not construct more detention facilities than factories!
The question is: what rigours go into budgeting especially allocations to key government agencies? It appears the officials simply apply the cut and paste rule in which minor adjustments are carried out on past documents and then submitted as fresh budgetary projections. Nothing else could justify the needless repetitions of items on the bill every year. For the avoidance of doubt, it was the malaise that plagued the Peoples Democratic Party-led government for 16 years until it was booted out. I hasten to say that I am yet to see any significant difference in approach as cases of padding and actual tampering of figures with the connivance of the legislature persist. With the exclusive snippets published by this paper in the last few days, it is difficult not to believe the joke out there that no serious brainwork goes into what has become a routine by those who handle the annual ritual. That the cut and paste theorist could be right is a scary possibility. But what is scarier is the fact that the nation will continue to be progressively moving in circles if it doesn’t free itself from the shackles of allocating resources to white elephants. Perhaps, that is the perspective from which one can understand Saraki’s blurred vision of hopelessness and deception in the 2019 Appropriation Bill even if he wouldn’t acknowledge that it is the same old story where he superintends as leader.
In 2016, I had admonished the President to, among other things, “re-jig the Presidency’s appropriations to reflect the pain he claims to feel for the suffering masses.” I said it was a tall order then knowing the way the bureaucracy works. Three years after, I’m sorry to say that profligate budgeting appears to be having a swell time – meaning there is no change in a promised era of change! And that’s a pity.
