The need for yearly budgetary implementations driven by execution of National Development Plans was exhaustively debated in the Senate last week Thursday. Taiye Odewale captures contributions and resolutions made by Senators.
The motion
The debate was sequel to a motion sponsored to that effect by Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah (PDP Anambra North) and five other Senators across party lines.
Oduah in the motion titled: “The need to establish a Visionary Budget – Driven National Planning Framework for Nigeria”,said budgeting and National Planning have to be in tandem on yearly basis for genuine and sustainable development.
According to her, “every budget should be on how to move the country forward and not a disjointed one without a vision of prioritising the needs of the people. “Budget planning should have a bipartisan approach to avoid a waste of the already scarce resources”.
She submitted thus: “Approval of budget submissions by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to the National Assembly is not reflective goal – oriented and performance – based allocations.
“For example, under the appropriations act 2018, the total budget allocation to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, a vital Ministry in national development, was N554billion which dropped by almost half to N331billion in 2019.
“However, the 2020 proposed Budget of sustaining growth and job creation, projects expenditure, has increased the combined allocations to the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Works and Housing to #420 billion. This roller-coaster allocation is a cause for concern as it calls into question; existing benchmarks for success, criteria for resource allocation and the accountability of MDAs to efficiently utilize their allocated resources to achieve the goals within their jurisdiction and minimize wasted resources.
MoF must adopt policy
“The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as other relevant MDAs need to adopt a national planning and budget framework that promotes a buy-in from relevant stakeholders at the conception stage, to a harmonized vision.
“This collaborative and coordinated planning will ensure a national vision that enables MDAs identified relevant programmes and projects to be implemented within the budget framework period, while informing the budget hearing and de fence process during preparation of the annual Budget.
“Without a visionary budget – driven national development plan, growth strategies and the respective MDAs will continue to fall short of achieving their goals, and projects will have little or no purpose. There will continue to be a high propensity for wasteful resource allocation and/’or overlapping projects.
“Therefore, addressing these issues must be at the heart of the next generation of mid-term and long-term national development program (for example Nigeria 2050) and subsequent budgeting cycles in Nigeria”.
Legislative intervention in this regard, she added, is very necessary because budget should speak to the vision and the vision should be able to guide and catalyse development drive for the country.
In his contribution to the motion, the Senate Deputy Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC Niger North), said it was the absence of political will that made it impossible to have a visionary national planning and bring to bear, good intentions in the country.
He explained that this lack of political will has also resulted in several projects abandoned in different parts of the country.
Essence of adopting policy
Ditto for Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC Ogun Central), who submitted that: “We need the political will to ensure following up and continuity in budgeting processes from projections to consideration and of course, implementation .
“As a legislative arm, we need to force the implementation and continuity and strengthen the over sight functions of the National Assembly”.
Other Senators like Adamu Aliero, Gabriel Suswam, and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who presided over the session, also cited the factor of lack of political will of being the bane of seemingly budgetary implementation failure on yearly basis.
However other factors such as corruption, inadequate funding etc, were cited by other Senators who contributed to the debate as problems militating against visionary budget driven on yearly basis.
Specifically, Senator Bassey Akpan (PDP Akwa Ibom North East), in his contribution said: “Most budgets are not feasible because there is no connection between them and the needs of the people.
“Lack of focus or thorough planning in budgeting, brings about abandoned projects and invariably underdevelopment “.
Also, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West), said that Nigeria need to do positive things to develop the country, stating that any nation that fails to plan is heading for failure.
Planning according to him, is imperative for growth, but lamented that funding is a big problem to the implementation of the budgets.
“Yes , planning is key in the entire budgeting process but practically , what is troubling Nigeria most , as far as budget implementations are concerned, is inadequate funding “, he said .
The youngest of all the Senators, Elisha Ishaku Abo (PDP Adamawa North) , in his own contribution , changed the narrative by declaring that the problem of budgeting in Nigeria rests on the top to bottom approach being used on yearly basis.
“The top to bottom approach of national budgeting, negates negates the very needs of the people at the grassroots.
“I wonder why someone in Abuja will make a budgetary provisions for people in the rural areas without knowing their needs and expect implementation of such provisions to have positive impacts on the lives of the people affected ? , he said.
Expectedly, the Senate after the debate mandated its Committees on National Planning, Finance and Appropriation, to as soon as possible, hold a round- table discussion with all relevant stakeholders in the executive arm of government, for way out of the seemingly disjointed yearly budget proposals and development plans.
But the question is, will the planned interface between the committees and relevant stakeholders in the executive , achieved the desired results? Time will tell.
