Reforming The Budget Process

Last week, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara faulted the country’s current budget procedure, saying it does not support inclusiveness. Former House of Representatives Speaker and Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Waziri Tambuwal also faulted the budget procedure, as did Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

Speaking at a seminar in Abuja, Dogara faulted provisions of Section 81 of the 1999 constitution which allow the President to submit budget estimates to the National Assembly at any time during the financial year. Besides the indefinite nature of the timing, Dogara also frowned at the use of the expression that refers to such submission as “budget.” He said what the President submits are mere estimates because the Budget itself is an Act of the National Assembly and not that of the Executive.

Given the long time that both the Executive and the Legislature take in preparing estimates of revenues and expenditure and in deliberating on and passing the Appropriation Bill, Speaker Dogara advocated for the amendment of Section 82 of the 1999 Constitution to reduce from 6 to 3 months the time in which the previous year’s budget may continue to run in the event that the Appropriation Act is not passed at the beginning of a financial year. The six months’ grace as provided in Section 82 of the Constitution authorizes the President to ‘expend monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of government’. 

This provision encourages delays in passing the Appropriation Bill or signing it into law.

Dogara also expressed concern over the operation of the financial year defined in Section 318 of the Constitution as ‘any period of twelve months beginning on the first day of January in any year or such other dates as the National Assembly may prescribe.’ He said a “situation where an approved budget is not allowed to operate for 12 months is constitutionally unacceptable.” He said it accounts for failures in budget implementation and abandoned projects across the country.

Dogara also condemned the practice by which the Executive chooses which aspects of the Appropriation Act to implement. He said once the Appropriation Bill is signed into law by the President, it becomes an Act of the National Assembly and enjoined the Executive to execute all laws. This is a very important observation and we urge the Attorney-General of the Federation to properly advise the President on this matter. Where implementing the Appropriation Act becomes difficult due to unforeseen circumstances, the President should seek an amendment, rather than pick and choose which items to implement. 

Governor Tambuwal also called for constitutional amendment to compel the President to submit budget estimates to the legislature three months before the end of a financial year. He said this will provide the legislature with the needed time to scrutinize the budget estimates. Tambuwal also lamented over the absence of proper planning which he said made it difficult over time for people to feel the impact of budgets.

If the budget could be laid in September, the legislature and the executive could resolve all grey areas. Both arms of government should work to ensure that the President assents to the budget bill expeditiously and also ensure full implementation of the Appropriation Act. While we recommend for government to have a strategic plan that deals with short, medium and long term needs of the country, there is need for a pre-budget interface between the Executive and Legislature to reduce frictions arising from the appropriation process. This will guarantee an inclusive budgeting process. An administration driven by change needs not wait for a constitutional amendment before submitting its budget proposals three months before the end of a financial year. We expect the President to submit the 2017 budget estimates to the National Assembly anytime soon.