So soon after we are supposed to have been done with the riddle of how a budget presented in the full view of a global audience of allegedly took a walk from the chambers of the National Assembly undetected, a new chapter to the controversy appears to have been opened at the weekend. This time, it is not the usual culprit, the National Assembly but a group described by the Presidency as the budget mafia that is being charged with mangling the 2016 budget.
The specific charges range from an alleged inflation of expenditure items by some N1.7 trillion, the smuggling of some 6,000-odd items into the budget and criminal sabotage.
Here is how an unnamed source captured the saga as quoted by this newspaper: “Bureaucratic resistance and entrenched systemic corrupt practices dogged every move of the presidency to produce proposals reflecting financial prudence and frugality, during the preparation of the 2016 Budget now before the National Assembly. For instance, after learning that the presidency was considering a large budget of possibly N8 trillion in order to significantly increase capital expenditure, bureaucrats brought a proposal of N9.7 trillion for overhead and capital spending even without personnel spending. Of the proposed N9.7 trillion, the bureaucrats planned to spend an alarming N3 trillion on overhead alone but the presidency eventually slashed this to N163b lower by 8% than 2015 budget which was N177billion, indicating massive cut of some of the main provisions by the Buhari presidency”.
“These bureaucrats also proposed to spend N2.1 trillion on personnel for the 2016 estimates compared to about N1.8 trillion in the 2015 budget. But the presidency also cut this down to N1.7 trillion in the final estimates sent to the legislature…”
“We were virtually doing vigil to beat the time since the budget had to be presented before the end of the year to the National Assembly and while some of the civil servants eventually cooperated, those who were resistant caused the insertions of many of the provisions that are now embarrassing the government…”
“The situation and its fallout were so bad that it provoked the annoyance of the President who nonetheless kept his cool buying time so as to meet the target date for the presentation of the budget in line with extant laws and regulations governing the budget process…”
Knowing the mind of the administration, the nightmare of the civil servants may have just begun. Already, we are told that a number of top civil servants have been pencilled to go. Hopefully, there will be enough provisions in the Civil Service General Orders to hang the recalcitrant officials in the sun.
Given that the Presidency has since moved to correct the identified distortions, why has it suddenly become an issue? By the way, where were its own officials when these so-called manipulations were taking place? Why seek to score cheap, needless points since the administration has had its way?
These are certainly unusual times.
To begin with, there is something painfully unnerving about the penchant by the Buhari administration to play games at a time like this. Earlier on, we saw its ignoble attempt to hold the National Assembly responsible for a problem it created. For the throng – of which yours truly is one – ever so ready to give the Presidency the benefit of the doubt, the latest development must come as a teachable moment. Truth is – if ever a budget could be described as sloppy, the 2016 budget would stand apart.
As they say – the devil is in the details. Check out the billions proposed for exotic cars – by an administration that promises to do things differently; the proposed residences of the trio of Vice President, Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives at a princely cost of N5 billion and several other expenditure heads clearly out of tune with current moods. How does one explain the fact that the capital estimates for the State House Clinics dwarfs those proposed for our teaching hospitals altogether? Those are the issues Nigerians are interested in finding answers to. That demand is a far cry from current attempts to frontload alibis for failure!
So the Presidency is “embarrassed”? Nigerians are put it mildly, scandalised.
It isn’t as if Nigerians are ignorant of the near-infinite capacity of the civil servants to do mischief though. Indeed, I don’t know of many Nigerians who would shed tears for the civil servants wherever and whenever the Buhari anti-corruption onslaught hits their quarters. The administration only needs to look at the sprawling real estate dotting Abuja skyline some 80 percent of which are said to belong to federal civil servants to appreciate how much our civil servants have helped themselves at our expense!
The attempt to use our budget as alibi to excuse its tardiness is what I consider as unacceptable. Nearly eight months on, it must be exasperating for Nigerians to watch an administration they reposed so much faith falter on every count. It is worse than tragic. We are certainly far too much into motions without locomotion. It’s time to get moving.
Supreme Court and the rest of us
The news came at the weekend that the Supreme Court has finally upended all the gains brought on by the adoption of the card reader in the electoral process. That is most unfortunate. An online medium while adducing reasons why the election of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State was upheld quoted the apex court to have said “that while provision was made for the use of the Electronic Card Reader Machine for accreditation of voters in the Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2015 general elections, the device was never “intended to supplant, displace or supersede” the Voters’ Register”.
By that ruling, the apex court appears to have thrown that singular innovation applauded globally into the bin. It is worse than tragedy.
NATION
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