Lawmakers’ plot to corner N1.4tn in 2017 budget

If Nigerian Senators have their way, 20 per cent of the country’s annual budget will be set aside for the execution of constituency projects in their various domains.

This is as Senate, on Thursday, approved for further legislative work, a bill seeking the reservation of at least 20 per cent of the federal annual budgets for constituency projects.

Going by the executive’s estimate to present an appropriation bill of N7.2 trillion in the 2017 fiscal year, the senators are proposing to set aside N1.4 trillion naira for such constituency projects.

Over the years, the issue of constituency projects has generated a lot of controversies, as many Nigerians argue that such projects are usually set aside for the lawmakers, who either directly or indirectly handle the contracts for the projects.

President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to present the 2017 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly next Wednesday, even as the legislature is yet to conclude work on the preparation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which the Fiscal Responsibility Act stipulated must be the basis for preparing annual budgets.

The bill to retain 20 per cent of the budget for constituency project which is sponsored by Senator Stella Odua, has passed the second reading stage at the Senate and has already been referred to the committees on Finance and Appropriation, and it is expected to be passed into law early in 2017.

If the Bill is passed into law before the 2017 budget proposal is signed, a total of N1.4 trillion would be dedicated to National Assembly constituency projects.

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The Senate directed the committees to turn in their reports on the bill within four weeks. The key provision in the bill is one which stated that at least 20 per cent of annual budgets must be dedicated to constituency projects.

During the debate on the general principles of the bill on the Senate floor, Senator Odua explained that it seeks to grant legal backing to the provision of Constituency Projects in the Annual Budget of the Federation by a minimum of 20 per cent.

“Distinguished colleagues, one of the unique features of our democratic journey so far is the concept of ‘Constituency Projects’. Available statistics show that seventy (70%) per cent of Nigerians live in the rural areas and the intention of the bill is to ensure that good governance is delivered to these crucial areas. The bill is also intended to correct the top-bottom approach of governance and replace it with the bottom top approach,” She said.

According to her, “constituency project in recent time is one of the ways to attract federal presence to our people. If not for these projects, majority of federal constituencies would not have a single federal project due to lopsided nature of project allocation in the budget. The constituency project is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. There are similar mechanisms in other developing Countries. For instance the constituency development fund has been institutionalized in Kenya, Uganda, India and Tanzania.

“Instead of vilifying the National Assembly on the constituency project, people should advocate for an institutional framework for the implementation of the constituency projects as it is the case in Kenya. This Bill therefore is an attempt at providing both institutional and legislative frame work for the operation of constituency projects in Nigeria thereby making it part of our National Budget.

“The lawmaker further noted that while it is true that Local Government councils have the responsibility of the development of local communities, the Federal Government has the overall responsibility of providing federal presence in these areas through developmental projects.

“There is no way this can be achieved without the input of the parliamentarians who are the representatives of the people at the federal level.

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“My respected colleagues, by so doing the parliamentarian who ‘knows the needs of the people will articulate them in the form of projects for injection into the Budget in the form of projects,” Odua argued.

According to her, “any funding under this Act shall be for a complete project or a defined phase of a project and may include the acquisition of land and buildings.

“All projects shall be projects as defined under this Act when passed and may include costs related to feasibility studies, planning and design or other technical input for the project but shall not include recurrent costs of a facility. Projects may include the acquisition of vehicles, machinery and other equipment for the constituency.”

However, the National Assembly is yet to approve the Medium Term Expenditure Framework MTEF which the law stipulated must be approved before the President could produce and present budgets before the joint session of the National Assembly.

The Senate Joint Committee on Appropriation, Finance and National Planning; Local and Foreign Debt that is working on the MTEF is yet to conclude its work.

It has however scheduled a meeting on the MTEF matter for next Tuesday, December 13, 2016. When asked how the Senate would accept a budget proposal that was produced in breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the deputy majority leader of the Senate, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, said:
“What people don’t understand is that the approval of MTEF is not a precondition for accepting the budget. But it is a precondition for passing the budget into law. I want you to understand the difference.

“What does MTEF entail? It is giving us a graphic expectation of a country of its income either perceived, derived or accrued. Now, if the President presents the budget on Wednesday, which we hope will be presented, the Senate will now go ahead to approve the MTEF so that it will provide the foundation for us to examine what has been presented by the President on Wednesday as a budget of the nation for the 2017 year”, he stated.

By Odia Ehisuan

 

 

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