President Goodluck Jonathan has presented the 2012 budget proposal, though the life span of the current 2011 budget is still running and will elapse by March 2012. UCHENNA AWOM in this analysis captures the skepticisms of the major players, and poses the oft touted but very pertinent question, is this another ritual?
President of the Senate, Senator David Mark aptly captured the anxiety and of course the near general feelings over budgeting process in Nigeria when he pointedly told the joint session of the National Assembly yesterday including the President, Goodluck Jonathan that;? “Over the years, we have listened to very beautiful and impressive budget speeches eloquently delivered in this chamber. Unfortunately, the implementation has not matched the words as economic policies often lack continuity and projects are needlessly discarded or abandoned”.
What Mark echoed has been the lot of very many budgets before the 2012 budget which was formally presented by President Goodluck Jonathan to the lawmakers. Yet what have followed after every open show of misgiving is variegated assurances by the executive. It could be recalled that at the base of the several fights between the parliament and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was the budget and the associated controversies. It got top a hilt that the lawmakers threatened him with impeachment. Yes, impeachment is the maximum punishment for the President, if he fails to implement the budget up 100 per cent as statutorily provided.
So like his predecessors, Jonathan assured the lawmakers that this budget would be different and went ahead to paint a flowery picture of the process. According to him; “This Proposal comes at the end of a long consultative process with key stakeholders and it translates the development plans of government unveiled in the Transformation Agenda into concrete actions.
“This budget is a stepping-stone to the transformation of our economy and country in our walk to economic freedom. This esteemed Assembly would agree that this path would neither be easy nor uncontested; but with a sharp focus, hard work, determination and making careful choices we will overcome”.
But his assurances underbellies the cautious optimism of lawmakers led by Mark, who in his welcome address, regretted that the country has failed to utilized her available resources to mount the pinnacle of leadership or at best be one of the strongest economies among the community of developed nations. He however, reminded the audience that Nigeria has what it takes to achieve the height if only all stakeholders would be ready to make sacrifices.
“We have what it takes to be a great nation or a world power. But we have never challenged ourselves sufficiently over the years to attain this desired goal. It is our hope and sincere belief that this budget will challenge us; and to take the challenge we must tighten our belts. To do so we must ensure that all sectors and every Nigerian irrespective of position or status is involved.
“Let me remind us that in 2011 the Legislature led the way in reducing our overhead and recurrent expenditure in order to increase investment in capital expenditure and to lead by example. We must lay emphasis on critical infrastructure, reduce revenue leakages, grow the economy, generate employment, encourage local production and promote made-in Nigeria goods. We on our part will ensure the comprehensive implementation of the 2012 budget to the letter through our oversight functions.
Let this budget be the one that will say “let there be light, and there is light; let there be roads and there are roads; let there be water, and there is water; let there be employment and there is employment; let there be medicare and it is so; and let there be food and there is food”.
Mark was not alone, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, echoed the same sentiment, but upped the ante when he pointedly told the President to comply with the constitution and ensure that the budget is implemented in the way it was passed by the National Assembly. He also flayed the executive for presenting the budget very late. The most scathing of his remarks was the point that underscored the oft perceived yearly budgeting as a mere ritual.
He said; “We are moved with feeling of a new spirit to remove the annual budget presentation from the realm of sheer rhetoric to one of a comprehensive presentation of a workable document. I must however, note that the budget proposal is again coming rather late in the day. Let me emphasize that selective budget implementation has no place in our constitution and the legislature shall not abdicate its responsibility in ensuring full budget implementation through the instrumentality of oversight.
Tambuwal’s admonition was a subtle message, which underscored the skepticisms of the Nigerian public on all the budgeting process. Most lawmakers expressed such misgiving also, like the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Senator Ahmed Maccido who told a press conference shortly after the budget presentation that the National Assembly was not satisfied with the 2011 budget and how it was implemented. He also debunked the claim by the executive about the extent of the performance of the budget. According to him, it was not true that the 2011 budget was implemented up to 50 per cent as presented by the Minister of Finance who he said put the performance of the 2011 budget at 50 per cent.
“Personally, I am not impressed with the implementation of the 2011 budget and the National Assembly is not too”, adding, “The Minister of Finance has said it was 50 percent performance but that is not true and even if it was implemented 50 percent, it is in the recurrent and not the capital budget”.
Well, all said, President Jonathan advanced reasons why the past budget failed. According to him “many countries, particularly in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have faced serious challenges leading to fiscal retrenchment and austerity measures in the face of high and rising levels of sovereign debt.
Continuing, he added that the Euro Zone crisis in particular has time and again thrown financial markets into turmoil as several countries in this economic and monetary union continue to face difficulty in servicing their debts. “On the other hand, although many emerging and developing countries, like India and China are experiencing relatively robust growth, downside risks remain as well. In fact, global growth projection has continuously been revised downward and is now 4% for 2012-2013.
These developments he stated have implications “for our economy as, aside from the impact on the inflow of Foreign Direct Investments, they could also lead to lower demand for our primary export commodity. We are living witnesses to the extent of volatility that can afflict the international oil market with prices plummeting from US$147/barrel in July 2008 to about US$38/barrel four months later. Thus, although the oil price is currently over US$100/barrel.