On Tuesday 22nd December, the red carpet was rolled out at the National Assembly to receive President Muhammadu Buhari who came to present the 2016 budget. Buhari, accompanied by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and other members of the federal cabinet presented government’s spending plan for 2016 to a jam-packed joint session of the National Assembly. Lawmakers had reason to be excited because for the past two years, the budget had been presented to the National Assembly by a representative of the president, to be precise, the former minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
This time around, the president came by himself. His laying the budget before the Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara was quite a spectacle. President Buhari who was assisted by Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa took a bow not just to the Senate President and the Speaker, he also bowed to the gallery, drawing a loud ovation. Dogara, while giving the vote of thanks noted that President Buhari, presenting the budget personally was a clear departure from the recent past where the head of the executive shunned the National Assembly.
He joined Saraki in promising the speedy passage of the budget. “Indeed change has also come to the Executive : It was fast becoming a norm that the President seats in the Villa and submits the Budget estimates to the Parliament by post, thereby shunning the opportunity which today’s occasion normally presents the President to interact with the legislature and also talk directly to Nigerians about the Budget.
I was afraid that, with the revolution in science and technology now, the President, this time around, was going to either email or tweet the Budget estimates to the National Assembly. “On the budget we are willing and ready to provide the scrutiny necessary to pass only a budget that can be implemented comprehensively to the letter. We are ready to move swiftly and speedily to pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill. The swift passage of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper already points to our commitment and resolve towards this. I would like to use this opportunity to thank all my colleagues in the Senate and the House for their steadfastness and patriotism in this area. We will apply same but in the light of the great importance of this document we will not short-circuit scrutiny on the altar of expediency” he stated. Dogara, who commended the Buhari on his anti-corruption war and “the general structural improvements that are apparent on the face of the document”, however called the president to employ his characteristic high standards with regard to the implementation of the budget. In a bold move, Dogara citing Section 318 of the Constitution, suggested that the fiscal year for the federal government be defined to have started when the the budget is signed into law.
This is just as he told the president that to ensure that the House effectively conducts it’s oversight function, members of the executive arm have to show up when summoned. He said: “While thanking Mr. President for meeting the Constitutional requirement for the presentation of the budget estimates, I wish to reiterate that a well crafted budget is not an end in itself, the real meat of a budget is in it’s implementation.
While the National Assembly will endeavor to diligently scrutinize and pass the budget in good time to facilitate early commencement of it’s implementation. “In this regard, and in order to aid Mr President to execute and implement the budget, it may be necessary to take a second look at the constitutional definition of Financial year. Section 318 of the Constitution defines a ‘Financial Year’ to mean ‘any period of twelve months beginning on the first day of January in any year or such other date as the National Assembly may prescribe’. “The National Assembly, going forward, may need therefore, to prescribe another date as the financial year in line with provisions of Section 318 of the Constitution, whenever the budget is not passed before January 1 in any given year.
The letter and spirit of the Constitution requires that the Financial year shall not be less than 12 months. The date of commencement of the financial year may change but not the 12 months period, it seems. “Consequently, if this proposal is accepted, it may become imperative that the 2016 budget may commence 12 months from the date it is signed into Law by Mr President. A budget may have a realistic chance of implementation when the Executive has 12 uninterrupted months to execute it. Mr President’s Change Agenda can only be realised for the benefit of the Nigerian people when his policies and programmes are faithfully executed. This proposal would need to be effected in full consultation with the Executive branch”. On the issue of effectiveness of the House in conducting oversight, Dogara said: “We wish to give notice that oversight will be diligent, thorough and intensive. Recent developments especially what is known as Armsgate have proven that oversight must include following not just project implementation but the security and sanctity of unspent budgeted funds. On our part and in the spirit of change that has come to this Legislature, we promise Nigerians to hold Mr. President to every word, line and provision of the budget when passed and assented to”. Buhari’s style of presentation Unlike the times when the immediate past president Goodluck Jonathan presented the budget with much fun fair, probably Buhari austere style influenced how the budget presentation was carried out this time around. There was no military band to punctuate every move during the president’s presentation. Neither was the event ended with a well laid out buffet like in times past.
The president arrived the House of Representatives chambers which hosts budget presentations around 10am and he simply proceeded to present his speech after the welcome address by the Senate President. The president disclosed that the government plans to spend N6.08 trillion in 2016 with a revenue projection of N3.86 trillion, resulting in a deficit of N2.22 trillion. And of the total budget sum, N1.8 trillion is earmarked for capital projects. “To deliver our development objectives, we have increased the capital expenditure portion of the budget from N557 billion in the 2015 budget to N1.8 trillion, in the 2016 budget. Distinguished and honourable members of the National Assembly, for the first time in many years, capital expenditure will represent 30% of our total budget. In future years we intend to raise the percentage allocation for capital expenditure” the president said. A breakdown of capital expenditure shows that Works, Power and Housing – received N433.4 billion and Transport – N202.0 billion. This is just as Special Intervention Programs was allocated N200.0 billion; Defence – N134.6 billion; and Interior – N53.1 billion. Buhari stated that the targeted investments in infrastructure and security are linked to government’s reforms in the Agriculture, Solid Minerals and other sectors with capability to create jobs for the youth. The president while reiterating his resolve to run a lean and transparent government government, equally said that the federal government borrowing will be strictly for capital projects. He added that N113billion will be set aside for sinking fund to deal with maturing loans. He said: “Distinguished and honourable members of the National Assembly, our 2016 borrowings will be principally directed to fund our capital projects. Furthermore, the sum of N113 billion will be set aside for a Sinking Fund towards the retirement of maturing loans; while N1.36 trillion has been provided for foreign and domestic debt service. This calls for prudent management on our part, both of the debt portfolio and the deployment of our hard earned foreign exchange earnings.
“In fulfillment of our promise to run a lean government, we have proposed a 9% reduction in non-debt recurrent expenditure, from N2.59 trillion in the 2015 budget to N2.35 trillion in 2016. Furthermore, we have budgeted N300 billion for Special intervention programs, which takes the total amount for non-debt recurrent expenditure to N2.65 trillion”. He however said that the federal government will ensure adequate funding for critical sectors such as education and healthcare which fall under recurrent expenditure. He also disclosed that the federal government in collaboration with states and LGAs would employ 500 thousand teachers. Months earlier President Buhari had also said the federal government will recruit 10 thousand policemen to deal with the manpower gap in the police.
Recall also that the House had in October 2015 called on the president to ensure allotment of 10 slots to each of the 768 local government areas and six area councils of Abuja in the first instance with regard to the planned recruitment of policemen. The president further said government will devote a significant portion of our recurrent expenditure to institutions that provide critical government services. “ We will spend N369.6 billion in Education; N294.5 billion in Defence; N221.7 billion in Health and N145.3 billion in the Ministry of Interior.
This will ensure our teachers, armed forces personnel, doctors, nurses, police men, fire fighters, prison service officers and many more critical service providers are paid competitively and on time” he further disclosed. Buhari who admitted the down turn in nation’s economy, owing to the slide in the oil price from $112 per barrel as at June 2014 to $39 per barrel, noted that the prevailing socio-economic challenges has been further worsened by the unbridled corruption and security challenges experienced in the last few years.He however stressed his commitment to the ongoing fight against corruption especially in the oil and gas industry. Can House live up to billing? On December 10th 2015, one hundred and thirty bills passed first reading in the House of Representatives with the Speaker assuring that the bills which he explained are interventionist will be passed before the end of the first quarter of 2016 . The question now is if the House can live up to the promise made by the Speaker that the 2016 Appropriation Bill will enjoy speedy passage even as it will be properly scrutinised by the House, despite its having an unprecedented number of bills at hand. Many are watching with measured optimism owing to the recent past when the House didn’t pass the budget on a commendable time frame. But speaking to the Daily Sun, chairman House Committee on Media and Publicity Abdulrazak Namdas argued that lawmakers are prepared to keep to the Speaker’s promises. “The truth is that our being committed to the people of this country is part of our Legislative Agenda. And one way we can show commitment to the people as lawmakers is to do our job according to the job specification. The job specification says that we should be able to scrutinise the budget once we have it on ground. “Without being vindictive or anything of that sort, we should be able to look at what the president has given us. Is it within what we can approve? Are there some areas where we can make adjustments? Certainly the budget is not a document that will leave the House, just as it came. We have to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
We also must be seen to carry out oversight in a manner that is corruption free”. On how exactly the House is planning to speedily pass the budget even with 130 bills pending, Namdas said that beyond lawmakers renewed commitment towards improved execution of the budget which starts with their speedily passing it , the Order Paper had been rearranged for bills to come before motions. “Knowing fully well that the president has promised full implementation of the budget by the grace of God, we wouldn’t want to be the ones causing any delay” he added. In a separate interview with Daily Sun, the lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency, Oghene Egoh also said the House will surpass the public’s expectations. “Now that we have more money for recurrent expenditure, we will do our part to see that we have more roads and other infrastructure.
Also the president promised that he will continue with the war on corruption and this means that we have to be careful and fully carry out our oversight functions” Egoh said.
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