We can do better at budgeting

For some time now, the national budget has been dogged and bogged down by controversies resulting in late passage and its attendant disadvantages for the nation.That the 2014 budget has just been passed into law by the National Assembly speaks volumes about our seriousness about economic planning. It is something the Jonathan administration has to […]

For some time now, the national budget has been dogged and bogged down by controversies resulting in late passage and its attendant disadvantages for the nation.
That the 2014 budget has just been passed into law by the National Assembly speaks volumes about our seriousness about economic planning. It is something the Jonathan administration has to overcome. A situation where the budget is not passed on time and the allocations not released on time cannot make for sound planning and management. Meanwhile in that same country, government activities go on with the implication that certain sectors like the Presidency somehow find funds to carry on their activities. This state of affairs creates room for corruption and fund misapplication and misappropriation, because it would be difficult in such a situation to keep track of the movement of funds.
The case of the 2014 budget is particularly worrisome, because the intention of the planners of the budget is that it would lead to the creation of several hundreds or thousands of jobs to deal with the problematic unemployment situation in the country. The question now is giving that it took a whole six months before the budget was signed into law, what time is left in the year for the job creation plan and even to carry out projects and programmes that enhance economic activities? Yet another problem with the 2014 budget is the fact that the allocations are weighted more for recurrent expenditure than capital and the envisaged jobs should normally come from capital projects. It is then doubtful whether the budget will achieve its stated objective.
Also, there were complaints from critical stakeholders like state governors that their input was ignored in the process of making the budget. This means that there would surely be disconnect between the economic aspiration of the states and the federal government’s, thereby endangering economic harmony and best results. This complaint means also that perhaps the budget issue has been politicised again for whatever reason, a serious weakness of the present administration that is unable to see the country as a single constituency.
Another issue hampering budgetary best-practices under the present administration is the prevalence of high level corruption and the abandonment by the government of the anti- corruption campaign. Aside the fact that the government of the day is not enthusiastic about fighting corruption is the mounting evidence that President Goodluck Jonathan lives in denial of this national cancer that is gradually making many Nigerians lose confidence in the nation. With many unresolved and un-investigated cases in the life of this government, even the budgetary process is compromised to the extent that the average Nigerian cannot vouch for the authenticity of allocations.
Quite a number of cases abound in the 2014 budget when allocations were made to institutions like research centres, educational institutions and sundry places for the purchase of aircraft and construction of runways!
I’m of the view that given the importance of the budget to the nation’s economic health, stakeholders in the process, notably the executive and legislature, should make it a priority and ensure that impediments to its prompt passage and implementation are removed.
3Mohammed Alhassan, Maitama, Abuja
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