IT has almost become fashionable for the National Assembly to delay the passage of the national budget. This has had deleterious effects on the economy, the welfare of the citizens and infrastructure development. Seven months after the presidency submitted the 2018 Appropriation bill before a Joint Session of the National Assembly and four months into the fiscal year, it appears the budget may be further delayed.
This is contrary to earlier assurance by the leadership of the legislature to fast track the passage of the N8.6trn budget before next month. For instance, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had earlier issued a deadline of April 17 for laying the budget document before the House and April 24 for the passage of the budget. Now, that plan is no longer realistic as the House missed the deadline for presentation. In the same vein, the budget has suffered the same fate in the Senate, as most of the Standing Committees have not submitted their reports to the Appropriation Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Danjuma Goje. The Appropriation Committee has also blamed heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the delay.
However, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, last week, mandated the Goje-led Appropriation Committee to tidy up its report by April 20 for final submission to the Senate for deliberations. The Senate President ruled out any further extension. Also, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, had assured that all MDAs would submit their expenditure estimates soon in line with budget guidelines and in compliance with the accounting year. He expressed deep concern that the budget is not yet passed, seven months after it was submitted to the House by President Muhammadu Buhari. He urged for the passage of the budget so that the President can assent to it for implementation to commence. It is disturbing that the 2018 budget has been delayed like previous ones. Definitely, the delay will lead to poor implementation of the capital components, which drive the economy and infrastructure development.
In the past five years, statistics had shown that the average percentage expenditure of overall national budget implementation was 22 per cent. In 2017, the implementation of the capital component was only 21 per cent. It was the lowest in five years. This could explain why many critical capital projects like railways, roads, hospitals, healthcare facilities were either stalled or abandoned due to non-release of funds. Last year, the implementation of the capital component of the budget resulted in a deficit of N1.7trn against the N2.18trn earmarked in the budget.
The 2018 budget may suffer worse fate if the delay drags longer. That is one of the reasons the Federal Government could not achieve the 70:30 ratio for recurrent and capital expenditure implementation it promised. It is only an early passage of the budget and its significant implementation that will actualise the budget’s set objectives.
Little can be achieved on the welfare of the people if the budget is poorly implemented. Already, most Nigerians are complaining of lack of disposable income as a result of the delay in passing the budget. Manufacturers are also lamenting poor sales.
We, therefore, urge the National Assembly to ensure that the 2018 budget is passed forthwith. The passage of the budget should not be politicised. But if the budget is not passed this month, it means that the President must resort to Section 82 of the Constitution, which states that, “if the Appropriation Bill in respect of any financial year has not been passed into law by the beginning of the financial year, the President may authorise the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government of the Federation for a period not exceeding six months or until the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act, whichever is the earlier.” In spite of this provision, the National Assembly should expedite action on the passage of the budget, as further delay will harm its implementation and the economy.