The National Assembly seems to be constituted with lawmakers who just want to mislead the Nigerian people. Why? They knew that the 2016 budget would not be signed into law by the President without details but they told Nigerians that they have done their part. You cannot say you have approved the budget when you didn’t release the details of what you approved. The question nobody is asking these lawmakers is why didn’t you provide those details immediately or wait until you get your figures right before handing over to the President?

Could it be that they thought the President could ignorantly sign what he has not seen into law and create room for more padding? The President could have signed a document that would have implicated him. Imagine if he had signed the budget, and the details come out to reveal that they have moved figures around in favor of what they care for? This move is very deceptive! It also questions the integrity of these lawmakers.

CONSTITUTIONAL BUDGET TIME FRAME

This budget is the most scrutinized and dramatized Nigerian budget so far. This is because there is no constitutional timeline for the presentation, passing and signing into law of the Nigerian budget for a fiscal year. The lawmakers can make themselves more useful by enacting a law that constitutionally sets the time frame like we have with the handing over date, within which the budget would be presented by the President to the National Assembly and finally signed into law by the President.

This solves lot problems. For instance if the budget is signed into law a month before the raining season, how can construction projects kick off immediately? But if the National Assembly considers this, enacts a law that sets the time frame for the signing of the budget months before raining season, a lot could be achieved before then.

It also blocks loopholes for corrupt practices. Nobody asks questions on where the unspent allocated funds for the budget go to after the fiscal year. Most times the unspent cash find their way into the personal pockets of the powerful.

GRASSROOT BUDGET PLANNING
For subsequent budget planning, I think it would be better if the Executive arm of government adopted a grass root approach preparing the budget. It would be better if the people at local government level contributed by suggesting the projects they really want in their locality. The Legislative arm on the other hand should create a budget office that works hand in hand with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to ensure a hassle free passing of the budget at the National Assembly level so the embarrassment of the 2016 budget would not reincarnate again in 2017.

BUDGET FINANCE:

There have been a lot of demands by Nigerians for the use of the recovered funds from the squandered Arms Procurement Fund by the Buhari administration to execute the budget instead borrowing. The fact is that there is nothing wrong with borrowing money as far as the money is used to finance capital projects. The good news here is that Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has said loans will be sourced from foreign sources. Read her words below:
“In a statement, by the spokesperson for the Minister, Mrs Adeosun said that the overall objective of the loan was to provide the lowest possible cost of funds to finance capital projects proposed under the government’s plan to stimulate the economy.
“These capital projects include power, transport, road, housing among others”, it read.
The Minister also explained that options with multi-lateral agencies including the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) were being explored.
Multilateral agencies provide loans on concessional terms, which include low interest, moratorium before repayment and long tenure.
The second funding option being explored is Export Credit Agencies such as China Exim Bank.”- Channelstv.com

FINAL THOUGHT
Finally, we must demand that the National Assembly makes its budget public! This will enable the Nigerian people know how much these lawmakers allocate for what and arm us with information to follow up on the execution of projects in our senatorial districts. This drama must stop!

Written by Paschal Chikero, founder of Chikero.com.ng and Pas360.com. Twitter: @paschikero, Facebook.com/paschikero