When the National Assembly finally passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill on May 17, it was the latest proof of the poor governance practices that have dogged Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. After an indefensible six months delay in considering the executive bill, the parliament raised the total sum by a hefty half trillion naira, setting the stage yet again for an un-implementable budget and quarrels with the executive arm. Unless seriousness is injected into the budgeting process, real development will continue to elude the country.
The two chambers of the National Assembly harmonised their positions and have since been carrying on as if they have rendered Nigerians a big favour. On the contrary, they have dealt the people another deadly blow. Most obvious is the unpardonable delay. The proposals were first laid before the parliament on November 7, 2017. This was unmistakably late; and the executive is the other major culprit in the despicable desecration of the national budget since 1999. Apart from suspending debates on the proposals in pursuit of ego-driven spats with the executive, ministers, and heads of agencies, lawmakers were engaged in their favourite pastime of padding the estimates with billions of naira for themselves as extensively detailed by a former House of Representatives Appropriations Committee chair, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
As usual, the parliament came out with a document different in significant respects from what the executive proposed. It raised total expenditure from N8.61 trillion to N9.12 trillion, some N508 billion higher than proposed. Its only rationale for this huge hike was the rise in oil prices since late last year that encouraged changing the oil price average assumption from $45 per barrel to $51 per barrel. Accordingly, provision for Statutory Transfers was raised from N456 billion to N530.42 billion; Recurrent Expenditure from N3.49 trillion to N3.51 trillion; Capital Vote from N2.65 trillion to N2.86 trillion; Ministry of Power, Works and Housing from N555.88 billion to N714.6 billion, and Ministry of Education N541.2 billion from N496.9 billion, among others.
But apart from other vote increases to the Defence and Interior ministries, the National Assembly also raised its own budget from N125 billion to N139.5 billion, reaffirming lawmakers’ insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.
While standard parliamentary practice allows lawmakers to tinker with Money Bills as the hallmark of democracy, this task is expected to be undertaken with a sense of responsibility and in the over-riding public interest. But these attributes have been signally lacking since the Fourth Republic got underway.
Our lawmakers betray public trust by their lack of urgency and rigorous interrogation of budget proposals to ensure they meet national development aspirations and by their elevation of personal interest above the common good. We would have preferred that lawmakers provided for deploying increased oil revenues into buffers, for instance, or into reducing the domestic debt burden.
While successive presidents, including the incumbent, have equally failed the test of responsible leadership by shoddy budgeting and late presentation, lawmakers, as supposed custodians of the popular will, should deal with the budget quickly and thoroughly and exert pressure on the executive to present it at least three clear months before each fiscal year. A national budget is the revenue and expenditure plan of a government for the financial year: failure to prepare it in good time derails national planning and development plans. Many projects are then rolled over with no guarantee of continuity in subsequent plans, according to a report by an International Monetary Fund team. PwC, a global audit and consultancy firm, notes that Nigeria’s infrastructure plans often fall into disarray due to very poor budgeting processes. This, says IMF, has contributed to missed targets in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework that links annual budgets to rolling plans. Late, incoherent budgets also hamper investors and the private sector who take their cue from the national budget to plan.
Modern budgeting entails linking expenditure to revenues. While our lawmakers are fixated on a temporary oil price rally, the United Kingdom’s Exchequer and parliament have been planning and matching revenue with expenditure for as far ahead as 2025. Debates on cuts in defence spending, investment in health care and education and where the funds will come from over the years have been concluded up to 2020, according to the Financial Times of London. In the United States, Congress and key government departments have already ironed out spending plans well into the next few years. There, Congress passed separate Appropriation Bills for strategic projects such as defence, aerospace and social security to avoid hiccups and safeguard national security.
Change should begin with the Presidency preparing the budget in good time and presenting it by the first working day of October: the legislature should then accord it priority and do a rigorous job to ensure it is ready by December. Lawmakers were accused of padding the 2013 budget by as much as N63 billion and added N481 billion to the 2014 budget. When, in one year, the parliament inserted over 100 road projects into the budget, thus making it impossible to implement. Roads are not purchased; they require planning, design, procurement processes and land acquisition/compensation that could take years.
The culture of constituency projects that fuels corruption should be stopped. Project planning and execution are the responsibility of the executive; the legislature is to make laws and conduct oversight; lawmakers can work with federal, state and local authorities to site or undertake projects in their constituencies.
With the economy still shaky and poverty and unemployment ravaging the people, the Presidency and the National Assembly should demonstrate some responsibility and start work in earnest on the 2019 budget.
