By Sanni Onogu
The vetting of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly entered a crucial stage last week with a national public hearing conducted by the joint committee on appropriation of the Senate and House of Representatives. The positive appraisal of the National Assembly’s handling of the 2017 budget so far is arguably a direct attribute of a reset thinking by its leadership. One thing is clear. Unlike previous episodes of budget consideration, the process this time has witnessed smooth sail.
Right from the day of presentation of the appropriation bill by President Muhammadu Buhari, on December 14, 2016, the budget has remained scandal free. There have been no stories of the budget developing wings and disappearing into thin air; no issues of ‘padding’ or ‘stuffing’ or ‘insertion’ by unauthorised means; ministers and lawmakers have not been found engaged in hot exchange of words over who did what. The spirit and eagerness to get things done and done differently for the good of the country has been palpable. Standing committees of the National Assembly have given ministries, departments and agencies ample opportunity to defend their proposals.
The fact that the 2017 budget is cruising home seamlessly is soothing to the heart of all and sundry. The National Assembly under the leadership of its Chairman, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has amply demonstrated its commitment to a paradigm shift in attitudes and mindset by rising above the din of past omissions and commissions to do things differently.
Courageous innovations were articulated and introduced to smoothen rough edges of the sometimes amorphous budget process. For instance, to avoid the 2016 experience, the National Assembly under Saraki constituted and inaugurated the Public Sector Budget Reform Committee, comprising senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the executive arm of government, the academia and civil society organisations. Headed by the former Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, the report of the committee and the committee’s recommendations, have in no small measure, contributed greatly to this year’s seamless budget defence in the growing understanding between the Executive and the Legislature.
One of the major recommendations of the committee was the opening up of the budget process to members of the public. The idea behind the public hearing was to give Nigerians the opportunity to scrutinise the document and air their opinions about the line items. The three-day event has been adjudged successful and rewarding by observers. Issues about the budget and how to make it better to serve and improve the lot of ordinary Nigerians most especially during a time of economic recession were critically interrogated.
Participants and observers alike have no doubt that the current open process of budget consideration would go a long way to engender transparency and accountability.
Another innovation in the handling of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly was that critical standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives held joint sessions to give MDAs an unencumbered opportunity to defend their budget proposals. The new arrangement did not only save time and cost on the part of the National Assembly and the executive, it also made for greater collaboration between the stakeholders. Above all, the arrangement would also facilitate the early passage of the Appropriation Bill. This is because the two chambers would have nothing to harmonise or reconcile. It also presents early signals that will translate to more collaborative and beneficial working relationship between the Executive and the legislature.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, has already assured Nigerians that the National Assembly was working to produce an implementable 2017 budget.
While declaring the public hearing open, Saraki did not lose sight of the observations of some stakeholders. “The budget must address the critical issues setting back our national growth and development,” Saraki said. Apart from assisting to pull the economy out of recession, Saraki was equally particularly interested in seeing the budget help in the creation of jobs and promotion of the non-oil sector.
Overall, Nigerians have not only thumbs up for the National Assembly and its leadership, they have also called for such open processes and citizens’ participation to henceforth be a regular feature when national budget is being considered. They also said that such open house budget hearing should always be held months before the annual budget presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly by the executive. This they reasoned, would make room for some of the cerebral interventions, from such array of experts and ordinary Nigerians.
It would make for a true budget document that would be in tandem with the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians, reduce waste, promote transparency, accountability and make for a more implementable budget. There is also a consensus among analysts that the open budget consideration process will be one of the glaring legacies of the current leadership of the Eighth National Assembly if transparency and openness is thus institutionalised in the budgeting process of the country. That is the way to go!
• Onogu is Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President