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Fashola’s Performance Under Scrutiny In Lagos by eherbal(m): 2:23pm On Feb 08, 2011 |
OLASUNKANMI AKONI Fashola Just after the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Pastor Ben Akabueze made his 2-hour presentation, Mr. Quasim Akinreti, a United Kingdom trained on-line media expert, sought answers to why some contractors executed some of the state projects halfway within a fiscal year and how many contractors have been sanctioned so far for what he allegedly described “dereliction of duties or breach of contracts”. Before Akabueze responded, Mr. Peter Ajayi, a federal media agency representative, also asked a set of questions mainly “ bordering on the value of unspent funds returned to the state coffers each fiscal year since 2007; whether the Fashola administration will adopt the minimum wage standard of the federal government; and if inadequate resource was responsible for why some capital projects have not been completed in the last fiscal year. ” Quite a number of participants sought answers to a barrage of questions on the state budget financing, debt management and servicing since the inception of administration of Fashola. At last, Akabueze, who is the state chief budget manager, responded to diverse questions, to which a wide spectrum of his audience (basically from the media and civil society) wanted clarifications one after the other. His method was quite empirical and logical considering the manner the state budget manager freely referred to facts, figures and policies explained the state government business and operation in the last four years. For clearer understanding, Akabueze offered insight into the state of Lagos economy prior to when Governor Fashola took over from former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which he said, laid down a robust road map to confront the socio-economic challenges of Africa ’s emerging model megacity. He simply put that the “preceding purposeful administration set foundation for today ’s Lagos economic breakthrough”. The basis for Tinubu’s foundational roles was captured in various socio-economic strategies and policy initiatives, which Akabueze said Tinubu ’s administration put together to transform Lagos from slums to model city. Without a solid socio- economic foundation, which he said the last administration laid down, Akabueze, who was in company of Special Adviser on Revenue and Taxation, Mr. Adeola Ipaiye and his Economic Planning and Budget counterpart, Mrs. Florence Oguntuase Fashola ’s administration could have faced herculean task. Akabueze therefore cited Ten- Point Agenda (TPA), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Lagos State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LASEEDS), resolutions of Lagos Economic Summits, global computerization programme, revenue diversification and deepening, and enhanced transparency and accountability relating to internally generated revenue (IGR) as key policy documents and initiatives currently being implemented to achieve high budget performance since 2007 and transform Lagos to a desired city. However, Akabueze quickly rolled out a number of challenges, which he said, Fashola administration confronted in the face of numerous opportunities. He thus mentioned poor resource profiles, huge infrastructural gaps, high crime rates, growing unemployment rates, inadequate institutional capacities, influx of immigrants from neighbouring states, prevalent poverty and socio-economic problems as key challenges, all of which he said, constituted disincentives to investments and threat to perceived opportunities. Taking cognisance of these challenges, Akabueze put the budget projection of the state at about $50 billion to be spent within a period of 10 years. Studies carried out by the present administration in 2007, according to him, shows that Lagos infrastructure funding gaps will gulp $50 billion. As indicated in the studies, water development requires $3 billion; road & drainage needs $20 billion; power will also gulps $10 billion; ICT needs $5 billion, transportation requires N9.3 billion and water & sewage will require $2.7 billion. But the commissioner acknowledged the deployment of broad socio-economic strategies “ to achieve the change agenda. This includes revenue diversification and deepening; enhanced transparency and accountability; efficient allocation of resources across sectors; tighter operating expenditure control, quarterly review of budget performance; more effective project monitoring as well as pegging capital and recurrent expenditure ratio at 60:40. This approach has proved effective and efficient in the state fiscal management ”. This is precisely what Akabueze said was responsible “for the state exponential improvement in its budget performance from 2007 to 2010. About 70 percent was recorded in 2007, 71 percent in 2008; 73 percent in 2009; and 80 percent. In this light, Lagos State has since 2007 been recording best budget performances across all the states of federation, and by extension, other states in West African sub- region within the period under study”. When compared with the Federal Government, its 2010 budget only recorded a performance of 21 per cent in terms of the capital expenditure, according to the Minister for Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga. But the minister acknowledged almost 100 percent implementation of the recurrent expenditure during the same fiscal year. Lagos success story therefore paint some good lessons, from which budget experts believe the federal government can learn. Also, during the period under review, Akabueze stressed the international standard 9-sector classification of functions of government (COFOG) was introduced in 2008 to replace previous 4-sector classification. Away from the 4-sector classification, the commissioner attributed the state budget performances to the new standard, which he said specifically place more emphasis on such sectors as infrastructural development, social protection, education, environmental protection, health, general services, public order and safety. Akabueze, said the key outputs of the budgets “include increased internally generated revenue (IGR) from N85bn to N176bn (i.e. N7bn to N15bn monthly) anchored on Medium Term Sectoral Strategy (MTSS), Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Medium Term Budget Framework (MTBF) applied to strengthen public expenditure management. The state ’s MDAs now have functional ICT units statewide Implementation of Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) improved staff competence ”. Sectoral reviews by the commissioner showed graphic performances of the state budgets between 2007 and 2010. He thus cited the public order and safety sector, which he said, had witnessed an optimal decline in term of crime rates. He attributed the decline “to the establishment of the State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), two helicopters purchased for security and emergency management, Central Security Surveillance (CSS), 500 patrol vehicles, 18 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs); arms and ammunition purchased for the police command. “The key outcomes were armed robbery incidents and stolen vehicles decreased by 89 percent in 2008 and 54 percent in 2009 respectively. Murder cases fell from 221 cases in 2007 to 94 incidents in 2010, representing about 75 percent decline. For every 10 cars stolen in 2009 at least 9 were recovered in the same year, and quicker disposition of cases (in term of judgement delivered in criminal charges filed in the state) improved by 61 percent, especially those related to criminal cases tried in 2010 from 13 percent in 2007 ”. He also reviewed how the budget implementation helped the state government improve food security in the last four years. This is what the commissioner accounted for an improved and increased local food crop production “from 1.452 million metric tons in 2007 to 2.103 million metric tons in 2010), increased livestock from 1.765 million metric tons in 2007 to 2.005m metric tons in 2010, increased aggregate fisheries production from 0.249m metric tons in 2007 to 0.255m metric tons in 2010, and beneficiaries from the state Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric- YES) Project has improved from 300 in 2007 to 1,500 in 2010”. Quoting the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, Akabueze ’s presentation showed a downward movement of unemployment rate to 20 percent. This does not include undergraduates engaged in Enterprise Registration & Identification Development Agency (ENTRIDA) Project, partnership with Messrs Elsewedy Electric Nigeria Limited on the production of transformers and cables; 70 persons employed at take off in 2010, commencement of physical development of Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) and deployment of 1,273 high capacity buses to enhance public transportation all parts of the Lagos metropolis. Having set this background, Akabueze thus addressed key questions raised at the briefing one after the other. On the unspent funds, Akabueze simply said the state “does not run the silos kind of accounting system whereby funds are allocated to MDAs to prosecute their projects and retire whatever is unspent at the end of the fiscal year to the treasury office as it is done at the national level. The state MDAs are encouraged to go to the treasury for cash backing when they are ready to pay contractors for projects they want to implement ”. His clarification on the uncompleted projects pointed the fact that the state “adopts the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) with a basic principle that budgetary plan spans beyond one fiscal year ”. Under this framework, he said, some projects were not designed to be completed within a budget cycle as many might be designed to last about three years to complete. What is incorporated in each budget for such projects lasting longer would be estimated cost value of jobs to be accomplished within such a fiscal year ”. On the wage increase, Akabueze held that the fixed amount was what “was arrived at by the Salaries and Wages Commission established by the state government with the probability that it could even arrive at a figure higher than the federal government minimum wage. The category of workers that earn minimum wage are no longer in the state public service. So, the minimum wage was not relevant in the state wage context because the state government now outsources the services of staff members that earn minimum wage ”. On this note, the commissioner said impressive budget performance “is not a rocket science, though requires effective project preparation, monitoring and implementation. We ensure that pre-contract preparations like drawing and other issues have been done. If you release money before that is done, the money might have been spent ” before actual site work is ready to take off. He also harped on stringent project monitoring to ensure the contractor is not defaulting at any stage of project implementation. According to him, it is difficult for any contractor of Lagos State to abscond because cash disbursement is tied to project need. In the cases where advance payment is issued, the contractor must provide advance payment guarantee from a reputable financial institution. So if the contractor runs, we can always hold the guarantor responsible. So, the success of any budget is dependent on the preparing as well as monitoring of project which remains pivotal for budget performance. If you do not monitor the projects, it would never happen. In the light of Akabueze’s presentation, both Executive Director of Public Policy Initiative Network of Nigeria (PPINN) Dr. Remi E. Aiyede and Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba offered a bird’s eye view on the performance of the state budgets between 2007 and 2010. In his analysis, Aiyede said it would be difficult to determine the state budget performance based on the expenditure of funds allocated to specific projects approved for implementation within a particular fiscal year. Aiyede, who lectures public administration at the University of Ibadan, said it would not be objective enough to assess “ budget performance based on how much of the allocations spent on approved projects. Objectively, budget performance is best determined by actual concrete targets of the budget and level of performance of the targets. Such performance can be measured using budget targets and the level of performance of the expenditure ” www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/fashola’s-performance-under-scrutiny-in-lagos/ |
Re: Fashola’s Performance Under Scrutiny In Lagos by foreman: 4:11pm On Feb 08, 2011 |
Give it up already! |
Re: Fashola’s Performance Under Scrutiny In Lagos by Richtalk: 11:42pm On Feb 11, 2011 |
ok |
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