One of the key functions the National Assembly are expected to dwell
on is the consideration and passage of the 2014 budget proposal as
present by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the Executive. Below are the sad
details:
Apparently, our State House functions as an integrated town that
must have every facility within. After all it has its own church
(chapel) and mosque and even a zoo where N8m would be spent
to upgrade and maintain it and an additional sum of N14.5m
would be spent to purchase two beasts , all for the pleasure of its
privileged patrons. And this is after we budgeted N7.5m for
wildlife conservation in the State House last year. [ Pure
MADNESS]!
Still in the State House, there is plan to spend N76.3m to
purchase ‘crested cutlery, flatware and glassware’ . Now, isn’t
that too much to spend on those items, for a State House that
has existed for years and been playing host to several dinners?
We don’t dispose of dinnerware on a yearly basis, do we?
General maintenance in the State House will cost N1.19b of
which N138.9 will go for motor vehicle and transport equipment
maintenance, N907m for office and residential building
maintenance; N17.4m for office furniture maintenance and N40m
to maintain office and IT equipment (that comes to spending
more than N3m each month to maintain office and IT equipment
in the office of the president).
Recalling that only last year, we budgeted N90.9m for this item,
it is bewildering why we plan to spend so much this year. Yet,
this is aside N188.3m to be spent on office stationery and
computer consumables (for which we budgeted N507.9m last
year).
It is hoped this exposé will help our parliamentarians make informed
decisions when considering the budget:
One way to look at the budget is to consider what each of the heads
and figures allocated means for our country and its development.
Here are a few of those queries.
The first observation to make is that the budget proposal allocates
76.3% to recurrent expenditure and just 23.7% to capital expenditure.
One interpretation of this is that the budget is meant to just keep the
country and its institutions running with nothing spectacular to show
for. A budget focused on massive development of infrastructure would
assign more to capital rather than to recurrent which covers
personnel and overhead costs.
About 42 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) will spend
more on their recurrent than on capital and in some instances the
difference is so huge. Here are a few cases:
The Ministry of Interior which is expected to spend N144.7b in
recurrent and just N6.29b on capital; Police formation and
commands, N285.5b and N6.79b; Education including UBEC,
N443.9b and N49.5b and Health, N216.4b and N46.3b.
Zeroing in on the Interior Ministry’s budget shows that the Prisons
Service would spend N45.2b on recurrent and a mere N2.3b on
capital. With such lopsided allocation, it is doubtful if our prisons
infrastructure would be revamped from their current state of
dilapidation and dehumanisation this year.
Equally difficult to carry out would be construction of new prisons to
decongest the present number, even as the country has just signed a
deal with the UK that might see the repatriation of more than 600
Nigerians serving jail terms in the UK to come home to complete their
sentences.
But why is the recurrent expenditure so huge?
Perhaps we should look at what typically appears under the recurrent
expenditure, particularly under the overhead costs. Here are a few of
such expenditure heads which need more explanation to the Nigerian
public. What do we mean by ‘Welfare packages’, which will gulp as
much as N40.4m in the headquarters of the Ministry of Water
Resources ? Please note that the said figure is not for the entire
ministry and agencies under it, rather for the headquarters. Welfare
package typically appears in the budget of every MDA and one
wonders who audits this spending. How is the money disbursed, to
whom and under what circumstances? Who determines the quantum
to be disbursed in every office? Under what rules of engagement or
laws did we turn our government offices to welfare package
disbursers? This budget head is one that needs to be checked or
discouraged as it is susceptible to abuse and corruption.
Other heads of interest demanding explanation include:
‘Cleaning and fumigation services’ (for which the Headquarters of the
Foreign Affairs Ministry would spend N201.7m and the Niger Delta
Ministry will spend N25m on) and ‘Anniversaries and celebrations (for
which the Ministry of Women Affairs will spend N71.6m)’. There are
also budgetary heads for ‘Printing of security documents’; ‘Printing of
non-security documents’; ‘Field and camping materials
supplies’ (N4.39m in the Ministry of Women Affairs); ‘Uniforms and
other clothing’; ‘Refreshments and meals’ (N16.7m in the Ministry of
Women Affairs); ‘Honorarium and sitting allowance’ and ‘consultancy
services for budget preparation’ (N8.36m in the Ministry of Women
Affairs). This last bit suggests that the Ministry of Women Affairs has
no internal personnel to prepare its budget for the year and for that
reason it would procure consultant(s) to help it do so and it would
then part with N8.36m).
There are even more interesting budgetary provisions elsewhere,
including the State House. For instance, the State House
Headquarters plans to purchase an embalming machine at the cost of
N1.65m and a hydraulic post-mortem table at N4m. What morbid
humour! Of course we know what embalmment and post-mortem are
about, but in the State House Headquarters? No doubt there is a
clinic in the State House, but I am not sure that clinic caters for a
very large number of clients requiring it to have every kind of
specialised units including mortuary. I am sure any such requirement
for embalmment and post-mortem would not be routine and
frequently required in a clinic in the State House and thus the said
equipment cannot be seen as necessities. If and when such needs
arise, referral could be made to larger state hospitals like the National
Hospital.
A peep into the budget for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs brings its
own excitement. For instance, we plan to spend money for the
maintenance of plants and generators in several of our foreign
missions, including the one in London. It’s with the same incredulity
that we notice the plan to spend money in fuelling boats and aircraft
in virtually all of our foreign missions. As an example, we plan to
spend N2.38m and N1.78m respectively for the above services in our
Foreign Mission in Abidjan. As earlier mentioned the foreign
ministry’s headquarters would part with N201.7m for fumigation and
cleaning services during the year.
There is this entry of N100m for the maintenance of Nigeria’s seat in
the UN Security Council . Pray what does that come to? One would
think that since we have a permanent representative to the UN, that
office would be responsible for attending Security Council meetings,
which cost would be borne by the UN anyway. So what would the
N100m be used for?
Other interesting budgetary provisions proposed in this ministry
include N40m for ‘global power on women’s empowerment, HIV and
SRHR’ and N9m to be spent by one of its agencies, the Institute for
Peace and Conflict Resolution for ‘building democracy as an
instrument of peace’. And although every MDA budgets for health
insurance subscription as well as medicals, there is still this curious
budgetary head in the foreign affairs ministry known as ‘cost of
medical treatment for Mrs. XYZ (I have withheld the real names) at
St. Andrews Burns Service at Broomfield Hospital’ for the sum of
N49.76m . [Medical bill of one woman N49.76m? ] I am just curious
why an individual’s name is listed in a federal budget as a spending.
Who is the person? Why is this cost not subsumed in other medical
costs or covered by insurance?
Next, the Foreign Affairs ministry plans to spend N834.4m to
purchase and freight 40 ‘representational cars’ to 40 of our foreign
missions. This translates to N20.86m as average cost for the cars.
Wouldn’t this cost be reduced if these cars are bought in the
locations they are to be used?
The above are just some of the numerous scandalous items in the
budget that one could query because they don’t appear to show
prudence in the management of our resources.
As the National Assembly considers the budget, it is hoped that they
would be detailed enough to query these and more bogus and
phoneey entries in the Appropriation Bill.
Written By Obo Effanga
He is Governance Manager at Actionaid Nigeria
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