Editor’s note: Reacting to the breaking news of the allegedly missing 2016 budget details, Naij.com’s Joachim MacEbong muses upon what this development would mean for the images of President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and Bukola Saraki’s Senate — and why such a predicament could happen (as we are led to believe) in the first place.
Since President Buhari’s budget presentation in front of the National Assembly on December 22nd, in which he gave the highlights of the 2016 budget, it was curious that the full budget by line items was not made available, like it is usually done. The wait for the budget entered into the new year, with no word from the presidency, save for a statement that any budget making the rounds was false. In addition, there was also a denial that the president had in fact withdrawn the budget about a week ago, in order to make further cuts.
Putting these events together, the news that the hard and soft copies of the budget, due to be discussed at the National Assembly on Tuesday January 12th, are now missing, is hardly surprising. The issue would be why this particular cover story was chosen, because it does not make anyone look good. It makes a federal legislature, already perceived as corrupt and incompetent, appear even more comical.
Looked at in one respect, with all the things that have gone missing in Nigeria in recent times – like an entire ship, billions of naira, and so on – a mere document is child’s play, even if that document is hundreds of pages long. However, a budget is one of the most important documents in a country, and some want us to believe that it simply disappeared.
What is more likely is that Bukola Saraki’s Senate has taken one for the team and cleared the way for a new budget with different line items to be presented for debate. It is also noteworthy that no copies of the budget were distributed to lawmakers before the holidays, which then raises the question of what exactly Buhari presented on December 22nd.
Many will wonder, rightly, how this particular narrative of a “stolen budget” was arrived at. This is because there is no way to convince anyone with a brain that the presidency does not have copies of its own budget, ready to be delivered to the National Assembly at a moment’s notice in order to aid its deliberations. It would have been far easier to say that the benchmarks on which the budget was based were due for a change, and hence the budget was withdrawn in order to make those adjustments.
This news does not engender any confidence that the country is in safe hands at a difficult time. It is the first time in Nigerian history that an entire budget has been declared missing, and any way you slice it, it is an embarrassment to a party to came to power on the platform of change.
We are already in the middle of January, and the nation is in dire need of a direction for the economy in what is already shaping up to be a rough year. Nigeria’s government revenue is largely drawn from crude oil, and the benchmark price was set at $38 a barrel while crude is currently trading at $32-$33, and any improvement in the price will either be short-lived or a bonus. The longer Nigeria goes without a budget, the longer the country drifts ever more precariously on stormy seas.
With this latest stranger-than-fiction occurrence, the president has bought himself some time, even though this will probably never be acknowledged by anyone in Aso Rock. He had better be quick about it.
Update: Femi
Adesina, the spokesman for President Buhari, has stressed that, indeed,
the senators could not locate the documents during the latest session,
but it has been the official position of the Senate since the last week
that the budget was not withdrawn.
Joachim MacEbong is a communications professional and political analyst.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and
opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com
or its editors.
Since President Buhari’s budget presentation in front of the National Assembly on December 22nd, in which he gave the highlights of the 2016 budget, it was curious that the full budget by line items was not made available, like it is usually done. The wait for the budget entered into the new year, with no word from the presidency, save for a statement that any budget making the rounds was false. In addition, there was also a denial that the president had in fact withdrawn the budget about a week ago, in order to make further cuts.
Putting these events together, the news that the hard and soft copies of the budget, due to be discussed at the National Assembly on Tuesday January 12th, are now missing, is hardly surprising. The issue would be why this particular cover story was chosen, because it does not make anyone look good. It makes a federal legislature, already perceived as corrupt and incompetent, appear even more comical.
Looked at in one respect, with all the things that have gone missing in Nigeria in recent times – like an entire ship, billions of naira, and so on – a mere document is child’s play, even if that document is hundreds of pages long. However, a budget is one of the most important documents in a country, and some want us to believe that it simply disappeared.
What is more likely is that Bukola Saraki’s Senate has taken one for the team and cleared the way for a new budget with different line items to be presented for debate. It is also noteworthy that no copies of the budget were distributed to lawmakers before the holidays, which then raises the question of what exactly Buhari presented on December 22nd.
Many will wonder, rightly, how this particular narrative of a “stolen budget” was arrived at. This is because there is no way to convince anyone with a brain that the presidency does not have copies of its own budget, ready to be delivered to the National Assembly at a moment’s notice in order to aid its deliberations. It would have been far easier to say that the benchmarks on which the budget was based were due for a change, and hence the budget was withdrawn in order to make those adjustments.
This news does not engender any confidence that the country is in safe hands at a difficult time. It is the first time in Nigerian history that an entire budget has been declared missing, and any way you slice it, it is an embarrassment to a party to came to power on the platform of change.
We are already in the middle of January, and the nation is in dire need of a direction for the economy in what is already shaping up to be a rough year. Nigeria’s government revenue is largely drawn from crude oil, and the benchmark price was set at $38 a barrel while crude is currently trading at $32-$33, and any improvement in the price will either be short-lived or a bonus. The longer Nigeria goes without a budget, the longer the country drifts ever more precariously on stormy seas.
With this latest stranger-than-fiction occurrence, the president has bought himself some time, even though this will probably never be acknowledged by anyone in Aso Rock. He had better be quick about it.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.
Author, Joachim MacEbong
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