Financial experts have urged the National Assembly (NASS) to properly assess the performance of the 2012 budget and its impact on Nigerians at the end of the year.
The experts spoke on Wednesday, in Lagos, against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the level of implementation of the 2012 budget.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday that the government had achieved 56 per cent implementation of the 2012 budget.
Okonjo-Iweala also urged the NASS to be more interested in how much of the budget the government was able to implement.
However, when the Senate invited her on Thursday to an interactive session over the matter, the minister was unable to attend because of other official engagements.
Just like the minister, Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, former President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), said that the NASS should be interested in how much of the budget government had implemented at the end of the year.
According to him, the NASS is not competent to state the percentage of the budget that has so far been implemented.
However, he noted that it was the duty of the legislature to keep an eye on the implementation of the budget.
The former ICAN president said that the NASS had no power to give what he described as rhetorical data or figure on budget implementation.
Ijewere, who said that criticisms of the budget would have no positive impact on the citizens, described the debate on its implementation as unnecessary diversion.
He said that it would be better if the National Assembly could offer advice on how best the budget could be effectively implemented.
Ijewere said that what should be of greater concern to the NASS was how the budget would have a positive impact on the citizens in terms of basic infrastructure.
He urged the NASS to tell the government to improve on education, fix roads, and improve the power sector.
Dr Osi Itsede, former Director of the West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), said the NASS should be concerned with the impact of the budget on the Nigerian masses.
Itsede said that the issue of what percentage of the 2012 budget had been implemented should not be of concern for now.
He said it was the Federal Ministry of Finance that had the sole right to state the level of implementation of the budget.
“World over, the Ministry of Finance has the responsibility of managing the nation’s economy,’’ he said.
Mr Oluyombo Onafowokan, a lecturer in the Department of Financial Studies, Redeemers’ University, faulted the government’s pronouncement that it had implemented 56 per cent of the 2012 budget.
Onafowokan urged the government to justify its claim, arguing that the economy had been moving at a slow pace.
Dr Kazeem Bello, of the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, also faulted the Federal Government’s position on the level of implementation of the budget.
Bello said that under normal circumstances, the government could have achieved 40 per cent by now if funds were made available.
He suggested the timely disbursement of funds to ministries and parastatal agencies for necessary expenditures for the year.
Bello said that from economic indices, the 2011 budget performed below 50 per cent.
Mr Wole Olowu, General Manager, True Bond Micro Finance Bank Ltd., said that most of the capital projects took a much longer time to execute, saying that there was, therefore, no way that the claim by government could have been possible within the short period.
According to him, the major obstacle to the nation’s budget implementation is the lack of funds.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has said the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala will appear before the Senate on Thursday to give details about the 2012 budget performance.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku made the disclosure after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Wednesday.
Maku said Okonjo-Iweala who doubles as the Coordinating Minister of the Economy was prepared to brief the Senate accurately on the budget performance to douse the controversy trailing it.
The minister said the Federal Government was committed to proper implementation of the 2012 budget and urged Nigerians not to generate unnecessary controversy over it.
“The Minister of Finance should be appearing before the Senate tomorrow (Thursday) to clarify.
“It is better we stop the persistent controversies; Legislature says this, Executive says that. I think that it is really distracting the process of implementation of the budget.
“What is most important at this stage is to tell you that we are working assiduously to execute the budget.
“That is our mandate; that is our job; that is why we were appointed; that’s why we have come to serve the people of Nigeria and I am sure that every minister, all of us, we know our duties, we know what to do.’’
Maku said Nigerians should avert their minds to the fact that the budget was passed by the National Assembly in March and assented to by the president in April
He also identified the strict procurement process which made it mandatory that due process be followed in the award and implementation of any contract as another reason for delays.
He assured that as soon as project implementation scaled through the procurement process people would see an upward spiral in the implementation of the budget.
The Senate had earlier summoned Okonjo-Iweala to appear before it on Tuesday, and address a public hearing by the Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance on the Budget 2012 implementation.
The minister did not show-up at the public hearing because she was on official trip to London to represent President Goodluck Jonathan at an investment forum.
Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, had frowned at the development and said that the issue of budget performance should take precedence over any other assignment.
FG says Nigeria is now foreign investors’ destination
Information Minister Labaran Maku on Wednesday said that Nigeria had become the leading foreign investors’ destination in sub-Saharan Africa.
Maku stated this while briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
He said that the country’s investment status was made known in a preliminary report from the investment conference that took place in London this week.
He said that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, had briefed the council on the outcome of the conference.
According to the minister, the conference singled out Nigeria as “Investors’ Destination in Africa” in spite of the various challenges facing the country.
“The Conference in London brought together a number of leading international investors, who were looking for the opportunity to invest in Africa.
“And from the comment and report by what took place in London, the coordinating minister told us that the world is very, very appreciative of the present reforms that had taking place in Nigeria.
“Specifically she said global investors believe that the micro economic policies of Nigeria are presently some of the best in world.
“They believed that Nigeria’s economy is being run in a very, very convincing way.
“And that because of the management of the economy and because of the reforms this administration is implementing, most investors believed that Nigeria is a destination for any significant investment in sub-sahara Africa,” he said.
Maku further revealed that 97 companies had indicated interest to participate in the country’s power reform programme.
He said the companies also met the July 31, deadline issued by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for the submission of bids by companies interested in participating in the ongoing power reform programme in the country.
According to him, 25 of the companies have shown interest in power generation and management of existing plants, while 54 others have indicated interest in power distribution.
“For years, as we do know, we have tried to run electricity as a government business and because of this, this nation has not been able to reach its target in power generation and in power transmission for the economy.
“So, the Ministry of Power reported to us, today, that as at the close of bids yesterday for the privatization of the distribution companies in the power sector, investors around the world have shown significant interest in the power sector in Nigeria.
“As at yesterday, when the bids closed, 79 companies had put in bids to participate in power reform programme in our country.
“According to the Minister of Power, the number of companies that have put in their bids far surpassed the expectations, even of the MDAs.
“And what it shows is that no matter what anyone will say, there is deeper and deeper interest in the Nigerian Economy by investors who are preferred to come here and invest and who really know that today in Africa, this economy, the way it is being managed and the active market that we have, is a very serious attraction for investment,” he stated.
The minister expressed the hope that the increasing interests by foreign companies to invest in Nigeria would create additional jobs for many unemployed Nigerians across the country.
In his contribution, the Minister of Power, Prof. Berth Nnaji, said that the interest shown by the prospective foreign investors was a clear indication of endorsement and approval of the way the economy was being managed by President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
“As the Minister of Information reported, this really, is a very strong endorsement on Nigeria, Mr President’s management of the economy.
“Let me say that privatisation of these companies is not merely just about the privatization. It has meaning.
“The intention is that what we like to achieve is that generation companies should have the ability to sell power to distribution companies that are credit worthy,” he said.
On the ongoing industrial dispute between Staff of the PHCN and the Ministry of Power over the privatisation of the power sector, Nnaji said agreement had been reached on the matter.
He said arrangements had been concluded by the Federal Government to pay the workers their entitlements before their re-absorption by the in-coming power distribution and generation companies.
- NAN