Flashback
Last week, we continued our discourse on the powers, limits, extent of appropriation in budget matters by the NASS vis-à-vis the role of the president. This week, we continue and conclude our thematic analysis.
The process of this “padding” is long, tortuous, engaging and could be rancorous. Where this prevents the budget from emerging timeously, section 82 (1) of the Constitution permits Mr. President to withdraw and use money in any financial year from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for a period of six months, provided the amount so withdrawn does not exceed the sum approved by the NASS in the year immediately preceding the financial year.
Indeed, section 83 permits the NASS to establish Contingencies Funds for the Federation, to enable the president attend to urgent and unforeseen expenditures not covered by either the Appropriation or Supplementary Appropriation Bills.

Padding by the executive
If there was any padding at all in the present 2016 budget, it was by the Executive. No one has told me that the alarming figures I had queried in an earlier write up have been removed.
When PMB on 22nd of December, 2015, presented his first budget proposal tagged: “The Budget of Change”, to a joint sitting of NASS, he had declared that it was a zero-based rather than envelope-system budget, which would ensure that resources were aligned with government’s priorities and allocated efficiently. But shockingly, the budget was either padded, items overpriced, allocations serially replicated or some damn inanities and frivolities included.
The ministers of health and information had publicly denounced their ministries phoney allocations, pleading “non est factum” (it is not my deed).  An elephantine sum of N3.8 billion was earmarked for the State House Medical Centre. Of this, N308 million was to construct a new VIP wing at the clinic. Aside from N3.21 billion budgeted for health equipment and supplies for the medical centre, another “State House Hqtrs” listed a N203, 273 million for drugs and medical supplies.
Comparatively, construction of all hospitals in Nigeria were allocated a paltry N2.6 billion only. A princely sum of N322.4 million was allocated to link a mere cable to the drivers’ restroom at the presidential villa. Another N213.8 million was proposed for linking a cable from Guest House No. 9 generator house to the gate. N618.6 million was for the installation of electrical lighting and fittings at the villa, which equate to spending N1.6 million daily and another N371.7 million for the installation of electrical distribution boards and other cables. Presidential Guest House needed N400 million face-lift, while Aso Rock Guest House facelift was estimated to cost N387.9 million.
The most bizarre of all these was the N22.3 million budgeted for residential rent at the State House, with meals and refreshments, costing N436 million, which include canteen/kitchen equipment, foodstuff and catering materials for the president/vice president. Sporting and games equipment for the State House and Presidential Air Fleet and office of the State Head of Service of the Federation was to cost Nigerians N252.8 million. N904 million was budgeted to acquire brand new exotic automobile fleet and its maintenance. While N259 million was for the purchase of “tyres, batteries, fuses, toolboxes, car jacks, tyre changing ‘machines’ and kits”, another N27, 000,000 was to purchase C-Caution signs, fire extinguishers, towing ropes and booster cables for the Aso Rock automobile fleet.
The Ministry of Defence even proposed N1.39 billion for the procurement of a houseboat in Abuja, a floating house mostly used for relaxation and a dwelling place by top military officers, when thousands of soldiers were dying in confrontation with Boko Haram. The Ministry of Information and Culture had budgeted N99.2 million for 1,600 chairs at the National Theatre and N140.9 million for computers for National Troupe of Nigeria. Lai Mohammed, the minister cried blue murder, saying it was not his budget.
The Ministry of Interior budgeted N6.2 billion for “research and development”, the Nigerian Prison Service, N500 million  for “capacity building”. The Nigeria Immigration Service had only N86 million in 2015, but the figure giraffed to N2.12 billion in the 2016 budget.  The Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology fixed allocation for “construction/provision of agricultural facilities” first for N626 million and again for N50 million.
Scandalous different prices were quoted for the same item by different MDAs and institutions. A unit of Toyota Hilux van was valued at N1,264,941 by the Gashaka Gumti National Park; N5,700,000 by the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency; N6, 500,000 by Federal Government Girls’ College, Owerri; N7, 500,000 by the Ministry of Technology, Akure; and N9,178,142 by Federal Government Girls’ College, Umuahia; Federal Government College, Ezzamgbo, Abakaliki is N10,000,000; N11,147,675 by the Federal Technical College, Lassa; N12,888,016 by the Ministry of Health; N13,500,000 by the Federal Government College, Okigwe; N15,970,515 by the Foreign Service Adviser; N27,273,523 by the Federal Technical College, Ikare; and N27,660,000 by Federal Government Girls’ College, Kazaure. Thus, the same Hilux van graduated from N1.2 million to N27 million. This is what you call classical “budget padding”. President Buhari was so shocked that he sacked some officials of the government!

Budgeting in other jurisdiction
The US budgetary process was established by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, brought about by President Harding, which required submission of an annual budget to congress.
Even then, Congress did not have any formal process for establishing a coherent budget before 1974, when newly elected President Richard Nixon began to refuse to spend funds that the Congress had already allocated. Congress frowned at this and adopted a more formal means to challenge him. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 thus created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which had a firmer control of the budget away from the President’s Office. The Act was passed easily, at a time the administration was embroiled in the Watergate scandal and unwilling to further provoke Congress.
The President in US submits a budget request to Congress, after formulating it for months with the assistance of the Office of Management and Budget, (the largest office within the Executive Office of the President). Mr. President’s budget proposals are referred to the House and Senate Budget Committees and to the CBO. Other relevant committees at this time also submit requests and estimates to the budget committees.
The House and Senate may even propose separate budgets independent of the president’s budget, and at different times. A conference committee is required to resolve differences between House and Senate appropriation bills. Once a Conference Bill has passed both chambers of Congress, it is sent to the president, who may sign the bill or veto it. If he signs, the bill becomes law. Otherwise, Congress must pass another bill to avoid a shutdown of, at least, part of the Federal Government. Where this fails, Congress may enact continuing resolutions that provide for the temporary funding of government operations; otherwise there would be a government shutdown such as happened in October, 2013.

Related News

UK’s budgetary system
Budgets are usually set once every year. They are announced in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In the UK, the fiscal year is termed the “financial year”, it begins on the 1st of a month and ends on 31 March of the following calendar year.
The prime minister’s cabinet exerts significant control over parliament since the prime minister must have a majority in the House of Commons to retain power. This means that his budgetary estimates request is generally granted. Departments of government usually submit their funding requests called “Main Supply Estimates” to HM Treasury. They may later submit “Supplementary Estimates” for the current financial year and also report any governmental re-organisations.

Budget in Ghana
There are two major steps involved in the budgetary process in Ghana. Firstly, the closed, non transparent step, which has eight stages.
The second major stage is that parliament approves the budget, after constituting Finance, Select Committee, to undertake detailed scrutiny of budget proposals, a scrutiny that appears perfunctory, hurried, superficial and partisan for sundry reasons.

Union budget of India
The Union Budget of India is also referred to as the annual financial statement in the Article 112 of the Constitution of India. It is presented each year on the last working day of February by the Finance Minister of India in parliament. The budget, which is presented by means of the Finance bill and the Appropriation bill has to be passed by the Houses before it can come into effect on April 1, the start of India’s financial year.