Budget 2016 Hullabaloo: One Wrong Too Many

By Advocates For Good Governance

Without any iota of doubt, it is now clear to all that the current government that prides itself with integrity is not worthy to bequeath our commonwealth. They have been failing on all fronts, to the extent that their sympathizers are finding it hard to defend them daily. If there is anything not to toil with in governance, it is the national budget.

This current led government by President Buhari has demonstrated its ineptitude in handling the national budget and those criticizing the members of the House of Representatives on the current melodrama about the 2016 Budget should look inward and take a deep breath. This is not to side the legislators neither do I intend to absolve them, for there is little or no difference among Nigerian politicians regardless of their parties.

Even though many had castigated NASS for all the evils surrounding the 2016 budget, it will be wrong to shift the blame on the legislators without considering the executives that started the process on a wrong note. According to a Yoruba saying, a load carrier that was being blamed of a tilted load has directed his accusers to consider his bent legs.

This was a government that presented a national budget, only to later steal, sneak in another version to NASS and deny the allegations. It will be never too late to remind them how they sneaked projects (for instance, Lagos-Calabar rail) into the budget while undergoing defence before the same NASS they are accusing of padding. I will like to relay to you from the start, the tale of this whole avoidable national shameful outing of a government that rode to power on the back of transparency.

Our calls for a reliable budget were ignored and in contrary, they presented a zero-based budget of N6.08trillion that was characterized with the addition of many zeros to irrelevant items and repetition of many white elephant projects. It was the worst fiscal outing in the history of this nation and after critically scrutinizing the 2016 budget, I discovered that about N1.58trillion of the budget should be deleted and we should stick to N4.5trillion. This is to avoid overburden from deficit and debt servicing that can mortgage our future with frivolous spending that will not amount to growth and development.

The budget was padded with items not initially proposed. In fact, this singular act gave room to pad the budget from all sides by the executive and NASS. If there is any strong impeachable offence by President Buhari, it was the 2016 Budget mishandling from its presentation to the inclusion of projects that was supposed to be under the supplementary budget.

Today, we are having the first ever 3 versions of a national budget under a government of change!

Now to Abdulmumin Jibrin that is blowing hot and cold over the padded budget, I will say this young man is playing an ostrich game and should not been taken serious. His lately holier-than-thou can only take us more backward. According to Niccolo Machiavelli, ‘Politics have no relation to morals’. If not, how can the same man that admonished the President to assent the budget without details suddenly woke up from the slumber of integrity to tell us the same budget was padded.

There is I think, something synonymous to Kano State legislators; Salisu Buhari, Farouk Lawan and now Jubrin. If this man's attempt is to act the script of those cabals that want the gavel of National Assembly to sound from their bedroom at all cost, then he should help look for another banana peel, not the 2016 budget that its CAPEX is at 18% of implementation.

Please note here again, that I do not support Dogara and his cohorts. However, telling the whole world that the APC government of CHANGE is implementing a padded budget will paint us completely black. As Plato, a Greek Philosopher once said, “in politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill..., we do not ask for handsomest physician or the most eloquent one".

With all sincerity, I pity the APC led government for only knowing how to get votes but deficiently deficient in all credentials meant to govern a nation.

Yes, many will say it is too late to cry over spilled milk as 2016 is just about four months left, but we need to prevent this national embarrassment from reoccurring as the 2017 budget preparation is around the corner.

As for well meaning Nigerians, let us save Nigeria from the ineptitude of this current government and stop being distracted by their politicking.

Ifedayo Obi,
(Lead Partner, Good Governance Advocates)
You can follow the author on twitter @IfedayoObi