Few days ago, the president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua sent the 2010 budget proposals of his administration to both houses of the National Assembly.
Both houses will now consider the president proposals, as contained in the 2010 appropriation bill, and pass, with or without amendments. By doing this, the president signaled that he was not prepared to wait for both houses of National Assembly to put their differences aside to allow the president to physically present his budget. The president has done the right thing.
The physical presentation of the government’s budget proposal has been the norm since return to democracy in 1999. Though not a requirement in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the annual presentation had served as a means for the sitting president to communicate to the public, through the National Assembly, on matters of revenue expectations and expenditure plans for the coming year. Because of the little impact successive budgets have made on the lives of ordinary Nigerians, some have christened this annual exercise rituals.
The continued feud between the two houses of National Assembly has now exposed the myth that an appropriation bill that is not physically presented at the National Assembly is not a budget proposal. This had given the impression in the past that the government’s appropriation bill is superior to all other bills. However, it is expected that the Senate and the House of Representatives will give due attention to the bill in the coming days and weeks so as to speed up the process of passing the bill. Though the appropriation bill is not superior to all other bills, the appropriation is especially time relevant.
The budget of N4 trillion is the highest that any government has ever proposed in the country. It is 31.5 percent higher than the 2009 proposal. The government expects revenue of N2.517 trillion, although the relative low oil price benchmark of $57 dollars, when compared to the current oil price of $79 dollars per barrel mean the government may realise more in the coming year. It thus means that the expenditure profile reflects a deficit aspect of about N1.5 trillion, which will come from borrowings, signature bonuses, and unspent sums from the current fiscal year.
The president expects that Budget 2010 will concretise the administration’s Seven point Agenda and Vision 2020. The budget’s capital expenditure is thus concentrated on five priority areas of the government that include critical infrastructure (this is not defined in the proposal, though), human capital development, land reform and food security, physical security, law and order, and Niger Delta. While we cannot not fault the government on these concentrations, these priority areas were not immuned from problems of budget in the past, which is implementation.
The government has presented Budget 2010 proposals on the back of a classic failure of the 2009 budget. The president himself said in the 2010 proposal that budget implementation for the first quarter of 2009 was 20 percent, which then improved to 50 percent at the end of the third quarter. The president alluded to shortfalls in oil and non oil revenues, but this is only about 20 percent less than budget. In the future, it will help if the government gives details of its budget performance, especially in relation to recurrent and capital expenditure.
The president has now done the right thing by presenting the 2010 appropriation bill to the two houses of assembly. But they still have to work together, even on the appropriation bill before it can become a law. The appropriation will have to be harmonized by both houses, as separate figures cannot be passed as appropriation law for 2010. We hope that our lawmakers will put aside their differences and consider this bill with the highest sense of responsibility that it deserves. We expect nothing less from our distinguished senators and honourable members of the House of Representatives.
