Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala predictably incurred the wrath of the National Assembly when she stated recently that government would not be able to pay salaries by September if the furore generated by the proposal for the amendment of 2013 Appropriation Act is not resolved. The recriminations, verbal salvos and the high voltage tension that has trailed the minister’s comments underscores the frosty relationship between the Executive and the National Assembly, a situation which threatens to imperil the 2013 Appropriation Act and hold in abeyance, the developmental objectives of the present administration.

Given the grave implications of this lingering crisis, it is in the overriding national interest for all the contending forces to move quickly to diffuse tensions thus generated by taking concrete steps to resolve the issues surrounding the identified grey areas. No nation can afford to waste a full calendar year of its life quarrelling over issues that can be best settled with maturity, commonsense and understanding in the overriding national interest. Paradoxically, in the annals of the nation’s budget years, the 2013 fiscal year set the pace in budget Appropriation. In December 20, 2012, the National Assembly passed N4.987 trillion appropriation bill presented by the president in September of the previous year. President Jonathan had proposed N4.92 trillion but the National Assembly jacked up the figure to N4.987 trillion. This feat gave room for cautious optimism among Nigerians who hailed the early passage as a departure from an inglorious past of intractable late budget presentations. Giving the festering crisis that has engulfed the budget, pessimism now rules the land.

Agreed that disagreements and robust engagements are some of the hallmarks of democratic practice, the time has come for all the warring parties to sheath their swords and move quickly to redeem the budget. The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala spoke from an informed position when she issued the dire warning regarding the ability of government to function and fulfil its obligations. A lot these of political, manoeuvres and ego trips have so far impinged on a balanced, fair and expeditious consideration of the 2013 budget amendment, proposal submitted by the president to the National Assembly on March 14. In the amendment bill, the president replaced the earlier N4, 987,220,425,601 contained in 2013 Appropriation Act with N4, 987,382,196,690 in the (Amendment) Bill 2013. According to the details, the president also sought to appropriate a total sum of N2.4 trillion as recurrent expenditure, as against N2.3 trillion on December 20, 2012. Also, Jonathan sought approval for N1, 588 trillion as capital expenditure as against the N1.6 trillion approved by the National Assembly last year. Whereas N388 billion was earmarked for statutory transfers, N591.7 billion was meant for debt servicing. The president also raised concerns over certain clauses inserted into the budget by the National Assembly which it believes amounted to the appropriation of executive powers by the parliament and therefore sought to correct them. These include the zero appropriation for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as a clause in the Act that prohibits the Commission from spending any revenue it generates.

Beyond all these observed discrepancies, the most worrying and unacceptable is the perchance of the National Assembly to tamper with projects designed for execution in the 2013 budget by the presidency. The National Assembly had diverted original appropriations to places of their own interest, an act which according to the presidency made the budget non implementable.

Okonjo – Iweala should be praised and not vilified over her principled stand on the festering crisis. As an internationally recognised economist, with vast experience in economic matters as it pertains to developing world, she understands the consequences and impact of an orderly budget presentation and implementation. As one of the ideologies of Jonathan’s transformation agenda, the coordinating minister of the ideologies is an insider with grasp and deep knowledge of the priorities and blueprint of the present administration for national development.

The changes, reductions and alterations by the National Assembly of capital projects estimates as submitted by the president in favour of areas of their own personal interest is nothing but distortions with negative consequences on our fledgling economy. In the spirit of cooperation between these two important arms of governments, projects which were not accommodated in the 2013 Appropriation Act can still be considered in subsequent appropriations. This should form part of a dynamic and progressive process based on the fact that government is a continuum.

So far, the ongoing stalemate has impacted negatively on the economy and held in abeyance, the president’s calculations pursuant to his transformation agenda. Already, earlier projections of government regarding the realisation of 10,000 megawatts of power in December this year has become unrealistic due, in part, to this stalemate and reduction of allocations to this critical sector of the national economy. It is unpatriotic for the National Assembly to delay consideration and passage of the amendment bill in order to get back at the executive over non release of the N100billion constituency projects funds to members. The primacy of collective interest is supreme and should guide the conduct of our leaders at all times.

Ume wrote in from Abuja

http://www.nigerianpilot.com/real-issues-on-the-budget-impasse/