29 Days after: Anxiety mounts over delay in signing 2017 Budget

.Nigerians express concern over non-signing of document

.We’re studying document with NASS leadership, says FG

Twenty- nine days after the National Assembly passed the 2017 budget, the Presidency under the Acting President Yemi Osibanjo is yet to sign the budget into law thus creating anxiety amongst many Nigerians.

Although the National Assembly passed the budget on May 11, 2017, having sat on it for about six months after it was officially transmitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2016, there has been near absolute silence on when it would actually be signed.

Though there were indications that Osinbajo was to sign the budget last week, the move was jettisoned at last minute, thereby generating criticisms and concerns on what could have gone wrong.

President Buhari before his trip to the United Kingdom on medical vacation, had assured that when passed by the National Assembly, the Presidency will ensure a speedy implementation once of the budget was signed.

Earlier, the National Assembly had been blamed for the delay in the passage the 2017 budget. But in its defence, the National Assembly attributed the delay to the need for the inclusion of certain government agencies including the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja which were not captured in the original proposal it received from the president.

Buhari had initially proposed a budget of N7.28 trillion but the National Assembly in its wisdom increased it by N143 billion, making it to N7.44 trillion.

As the controversy over the 2017 Budget lingers, Nigerians and other stakeholders have expressed worried over the non-signing of the 2017 budget, lamenting that the economy is in doldrums.

When The Daily Times sought the views of some economic and legal experts on the implication, they also expressed concern over the delay by the presidency in signing budget.

The 2017 budget was supposed to start running from April 1, 2017 after the expiration of the 2016 budget in March 31, 2017.

However, the government in its prompt effort to prevent the economy from been grounded, extended the lifespan of the 2016 budget to May 5, 2017 believing that the budget would have been passed by the National Assembly and assented by the President.

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed, issued a circular in March extending the tenure of the Capital elements of the 2016 Budget until May 5, 2017.

The National Assembly had since May 11, 2017 passed the appropriation bill of N7.441 trillion into law, but 29 days after, the budget has not been signed.

Given the present situation, Nigerians lamented that economic activities have been grounded because government cannot spend money that is not appropriated.

However, the Federal Government had in March announced the extension of the 2016 budget which covers only capital component of the budget, putting the recurrent component (personnel and overheads) in jeopardy.

President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Prof Ben Aigbokhan, who spoke to The Daily Times on Thursday, said that the delay in signing the budget will impact negatively on the Nigerian economy.

Prof. Aigbokhan explained that when there is a delay in signing of the budget, it affects economic growth and many jobs would be lose, thereby saturating the labour market and endangering the economy.

According to him, when budget is delayed, the implication is that government may not be able to spend or execute 40 percent of the capital expenditure.

The economist declared that with the delay in signing the budget, the possibility of Nigeria exiting recession in Q3 is near zero.

He added that government had projected that by third quarter of 2017, the economy would come out of recession; but this, according to the Professor of Economics, may not be realised “meaning the recession may take longer time.”

He noted that, “there would be low aggregate of income as government borrows to pay salary; and it may not be able to spend 50 percent of capital budget of 2017.

This, according to Prof. Aigbokhan, will make the implementation of the zero budget unrealistic.
Another negative effect of delay budget is that it discourages foreign investors from coming in to invest and that could make them to divert their investment capital to other countries.

He advised the government to always ensure timely presentation, passage and signing of the budget within the first quarter of the each year so as to attract investors and achieve full implementation.

Reacting to the development, an Economist and Civil Society Activist, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, described the situation as a big shame, saying that the economy is in prostrate.

Onyekpere said: “It is a big shame that the executive and legislature have held the nation to ransom by refusing to do their duties. The economy is prostrate and no public expenditure on the capital side is ongoing and Nigeria burns while the leaders behave like nothing is at stake.”

However, he said, “The solution is for the citizens to stop buying government propaganda and rise up to ask questions from their purported leaders who claim to have the interest of the nation at heart whilst their actions do not support this affirmation.”

Meanwhile, as the controversy over the 2017 Budget lingers, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria have expressed concerned over delay by the presidency to sign the 2017 budget.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, who lent his voice on the development, wondered why the cohesion is lacking between the Executive and the Legislative arm of government.

He said,” the position of our budget is too bad. The reason why the presidency is yet to sign the budget in my opinion is because of the lack of cohesion between the Legislative and the Executive.

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sam Ologun-Orisa, charged the Legislative and Executive arm of government to come together and reconcile the grey areas, adding that it is the ordinary Nigerians that suffer the heat.

On whether to approach the Supreme Court to clarify the true definition of the lawmakers’ power of appropriation, Ologun-Orisa said: “I still maintain that both arms of government should come together and sought their differences because by the time they take the issue to court, the matter will drag for a long time”.
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sebastine Hon, argued that it won’t augur well for Nigerians to go to court at this stage to seek the definition of appropriation.

He, however, stressed that after the budget has been implemented, any Nigerian who feels the need for interpretation can go to court.

While spelling out the powers of Executive as enshrined by Section 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hon said: “The Executive proposes budgetary expenditures which is always subject to deliberations on the floor of the house just like any other law”.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has assured Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm, assuring that the budget would soon be signed.

Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this, added that the executive and the legislature met on Wednesday to address the grey arrears in the appropriation bill.

He said: “We are studying the documents now with National Assembly leadership in order to sort out the gray areas, and it will soon be signed.

He revealed that the executive have met with the National Assembly leadership and the budget will soon signed.
The Information minister said Nigerians should not panic assuring that the document would soon be signed.