President Muhammadu Buhari, on December 22, 2015, presented Nigeria’s biggest budget in 16 years to the National Assembly. Some shock finds, indicative of business as usual appeared to have found their ways into the budget document. Group Politics Editor, TAIWO ADISA, undertakes a review of the budget document.
SENATORS and members of the House of Representatives showed excitement on December 22, 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari visited the House of Representatives chamber for a joint sitting of the National Assembly for the presentation the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget estimates.
The lawmakers had decided to make a show of the event, which had become a routine since 1999 until former President Goodluck Jonathan shunned the joint sitting and decided to send the budget through his then Minister of Finance, in 2013 and 2014.
The senators and the members of the lower chamber waved the national flag as Buhari walked into the chamber through the presidential route. His presentation was punctuated with claps.
Outside the chamber, the euphoria of a first budget presentation by the erstwhile opposition party continued to dominate proceedings as senators and House of Representatives members expressed the belief that the budget would bring change to the land.
But it won’t be long before the budget document would run into foul weather. The lawmakers departed Abuja for the end of the year recess in December. By the first week of January, news had circulated that the executive was contemplating withdrawing the budget document. There were denials but it turned out that the rumour of budget withdrawal had some iota of truth. The executive was said to have been alarmed by reports that indicated bogus allocations to the presidency and other subheads in “The Budget of Change.” Attempts to effect a change in the document behind the scene had landed the government in bad weather as the Senate raised the alarm that the budget was missing.
Even while the National Assembly decided to “move on” and continue work on the “budget copy document submitted by Mr President,” it was obvious that the Villa had had its image badly affected. Whether Buhari sanctioned the changes quietly made to the budget was no longer in contention when he wrote a letter dated January 15, 2016 to adopt the changes earlier made secretly.
But the “missing budget” saga turned out to be a tip of the iceberg as the document came under further scrutiny. There were enough shock finds that would make the budget almost unworkable by the National Assembly. There were undue repetitions of subheads, figures and allocations. It just appeared that the drafters of the document merely adopted the existing templates and judged figures as they wished.
The first signal that all might not be well with the budget emanated on the first allotted day for the debate on its general principles. While senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) struggled to project the virtues of the budget, those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) identified errors as the debate deepened.
Abia’s three-time senator and former Senate spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, described the budget as a “change in the wrong direction” and queried what he called bogus allocations to the Presidential Villa.
According to him, the government that claims to be running austerity budget is moving domestic spending in the Presidential Villa from N580 million in 2015 to N1.7 billion
“We know what is going on in the global economy. This budget is predicated on an oil benchmark of $38 per barrel and I can now say that with oil being $28 today, this budget is dead on arrival. This budget is, indeed, unique, the first budget that has ever been sent out to the public of Nigeria and after the budget presentation, the finance minister has never come to explain the details of the budget as it is normally done.
“It is a budget of change. I agree. But it is a change in the wrong direction because if it is based on zero budgeting requiring all expenses to be fully justified. A budget that increases spending up to 30 per cent based solely on borrowing, in what way is it justified? That is the question we want to ask the people who brought this budget as change.
“This budget has moved the 2015 budget from N4.45 trillion to N6 trillion and we felt that moving it on zero-based budgeting should actually show how it is done. Of course, we get nothing; all we get is that we are going to borrow,” Abaribe said on the floor of the Senate.
The lawmaker said that the decision to increase domestic spending within Aso Rock Villa from N580 million to N1.7 billion could not be defended. “We were told that in the revised budget, there was an adjustment due to error. We agree but what has happened is that the money, up to N7 billion, was moved from buying vehicles to being spent in offices,” he added.
He told his colleagues further that the Villa was going to curiously spend N3.9 billion for the renovation of the Villa, which was only renovated in May 2015. “They are going to renovate the Villa with N3.9 billion. What else do you want to renovate there (in the Villa) that Nigerians will see in the year 2016?” the lawmaker asked.
One shock find in the budget, which runs across the allocations in the presidency is the subhead honorarium and sitting allowances. Under the Presidency State House Headquarters, the subhead has an initial N69, 396,805 as allocation. Under the State House, Vice President, operations, the same allocation has N9, 813,643. But in the section that summarises the entire allocations for the State House, the sum of N307,644,034 (N307.6 million) was allotted to that subhead. The same State House is to spend the sum of N115.8 million on wildlife conservation, added to another N4.1 million to be spent on rehabilitation of mini zoo at the State House Annex, Lagos.
More shock finds were made in the allocation to the Mass Literacy Council under the Ministry of Education. The agency has the same figure for three different subheads. The council plans to spend N334,630 on telephone charges, N334,630 on water rates and N334,630 on satellite broadcasting access charges.
A similar situation obtains in Nomadic Education Commission which plans to spend exactly the same amount on different subheads. While it plans to spend the sum of N1,602,490 on plant/generator fuel cost, it will also spend N1,602,490 on another subhead - motor vehicle fuel cost.
The Ministry of Education appears to account for many of the duplications as evident in the proposed allocation to Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, Yobe State. The proposed expenditures see the same figure of N677,575 repeated for 10 items. It would be curious how the same expenditure could go exactly for the various subheads, which are in different sectors.
The details, as shown in the budget under the FGC Buni-Yadi, indicate that the sum of N677,575 was allocated for the Maintenance of Motor Vehicle/Transport Equipment; Maintenance of Office Furniture (N677,575), Maintenance of Office Building/Residential Quarters (N677,575), Maintenance of office/IT Equipment (N 677,575), Maintenance of Plants/Generators (N677,575), Training-General (N677,575), Local Training (N677,575), Motor Vehicle Fuel Cost (N677,575), Other Transport Equipment Fuel Cost (N677,575) and Plant/Generator Fuel Cost (N677,575).
The school also has an unclear subhead named Subsidy to Government-owned Companies and Parastatals at the sum of N 58,894,305.
The same strange coincidences were noticed in the budget of the Federal Government College, Garki, Abuja, where the sum of N400,237 was stated against 14 items.
The budget shows that the school is voting the sum of N400,237 for Maintenance of Motor Vehicle/Transport Equipment; the same N400,237 would take care of Maintenance of office furniture; Maintenance of office Building/Residential Quarters, N400,237; Maintenance of Office/IT Equipments, N400,237; Maintenance of Plants/Generators, N400,237; Training General, N400,237; Local Training, N400,237; Security Services, N400,237; Cleaning and Fumigation services, N400,237; Other Transport Equipment Fuel Cost, N400,237; Plant/Generator Fuel Cost, N400,237; Welfare packages, N400,237 and Publicity and Advertisements and Sporting activities, N400,237
Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos State, also shares in the strange finds in the budget. The school was allotted the sum of N350,362 for the purchase of books, the same amount earmarked for other subheads like Newspapers, Magazines and Periodicals and Printing of Non-security Documents; while the subhead entitled Subsidies to Government-owned companies and Parastatals is to gulp N94,967,549. One shock find that is generating furore is the allocation of the sum of N44 million for perimeter fencing of the school. That project, as contained in the budget, is to actually gulp N44, 728,001. But the school is already fenced and has a gate. Another N40 million is allocated to the school under the subhead, Construction/Provision of Public Schools.
On Monday, the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education uncovered an excess of N10 billion allocated as part of personnel costs of the Ministry of Education.
The Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwuka, expressed shocked as he was confronted with the details when the ministry appeared before the Senate Committee for Budget Defence.
Senate Chief Whip, Senator Shola Adeyeye, asked the ministry to explain how the personnel budget for parastatals under the ministry jumped from N88,199,311,758 in 2015 to N98, 181,570,237 in the 2016 budget proposals.
The minister, who was unable to provide answer to the question, referred the matter to the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Folasade Yemi-Esan.
The permanent secretary used technicalities to explain the issue but the lawmakers refused to be carried away by her recourse to technicalities.
http://tribuneonlineng.com/sites/default/files/buhari1_340_18.jpg

As we are talking right now, the budget is beign delibrated on the floor of the national assembly. There is no talk of withdrawal or correction. The budget will remain the same.

Inspite of all the glaring anomalies, the budget will eventually be passed. Even the senate that is criticising, the budget has the biggest yam with the least number of people. All we can pray for now is atleast 70% implementation.

I pray PMB and his ministers will not fail on this task.

Budget of Corruption.

Wonders shall never cease!

I can't believe what am reading where is adeosun finance minister on this matter

Honestly Nigeria have a long way to go.

After President Buhari studied this Budget,he deemed it fit to be presented before the senate?
Why did he say he is fighting corruption in first place? From the above,its clear that President Buhari is sponsoring a budget of corruption not budget of change

PDP ate our yam with spoon, APC wants to eat with shovel. Criminals in high places