‘NASS’ll Ensure Transparent Budget Implementation’

With the completion of the 2012 budget defence at the National Assembly and the various committees submitting their reports to the committees on appropriation, which will further work on same before presenting final copy in two separate volumes to the Senate and House of Representatives at plenary, respectively, the stage is now virtually set for the Appropriation Bill 2012 to be passed by the nation’s legislature.

If passed, the implementation stage starts in earnest. It was Montesque, a jurist who propounded the theory of Separation of Powers in 1833, when he argued that the three arms of government should be independent of each other, with one arm serving as watchdog on the other. Ever since, this theory has become an acceptable norm in democratic governance globally, although in practice, it is difficult to separate in watertight compartment the three arms of government. Be that as it may, it is incumbent on the Legislature to monitor the implementation of annual budgets by the Executive arm of government.

This, the legislature does as part of its oversight function. But alas, many believe that over the years, there has not been an effective monitoring of federal budgets by the Legislature in Nigeria. The state Houses of Assembly are also seen as being guilty of this, in their monitoring of state budgets as in most cases, governments overshoot their budgets, with most Assemblies looking the other way.

Thus, in the 2012 fiscal year, one question on the lips of Nigerians is: How prepared is the Legislature for the monitoring of this year’s budget, at the federal, state and local government levels? Or will it be ‘business as usual’ by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), some of which could not justify their implementation of the previous year’s budget during the just-concluded 2012 budget defence.

Former Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, and now member representing Ughelli North/South and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), Hon Austin Ogbaburhon, clear the air on this burning issue, and argues that the 7th National Assembly is resolute on the issue of budget implementation, and would not falter in pursuance of this – serving as a watchdog on the Executive.

Hon Ogbaburhon, a member of the House Committee of Public Accounts, told The Tide in an exclusive interview in Abuja that, “as part of our oversight function, we shall closely monitor the implementation of the 2012 budget by the Executive. The Committee on Public Accounts in particular, shall ensure that the MDAs of government account to all queries from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for not conforming to the standard in their implementation of the budget; how they will spend their budgets as approved by the National Assembly is of immense interest to us”.

As part of the National Assembly’s effort at budget implementation this year, Ogbaburhon averred that measures are being put in place to effectively address the issue of ghost workers, which has taken millions of naira down the drain, with a view to nipping it in the bud. “We are committed to transparent budget implementation; we want to make sure that salaries are paid promptly, and paid without having ghost workers involved; we really want to ensure this”.

He told The Tide that, with the House ad-hoc committees successfully concluding investigation into past budgets and how petroleum ‘subsidy’ money was spent, and determined to unravel alleged shady deals involved, coupled with the appointment of a new boss for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), “this time around, they will be more careful” with budget implementation.

He said, the legislators of the 7th National Assembly are aware that they have ‘very smart technocrats’ to contend with, and are equal to the task, noting that during the recent budget defence, ministers, permanent secretaries, director-general, executive secretaries who appeared before the committee were told in clear terms that they have to live up to their responsibilities or face sanctions. He said that since in the implementation of last year’s budget, ‘some have few queries; some a lot of queries’ from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

As part of efforts to check corruption and ensure due process and probity in the civil service this year, Hon Ogbaburhon said the committee was rooting for the establishment of a National Council on Public Procurement. The House of Representatives, he said, is making frantic efforts for the establishment of the council through the Committee on Public Procurement, adding that the committee was really passionate about the establishment of the council in Nigeria.

According to him: “The problem we are having (as a committee) is that public procurement is supposed to have a council but since inception in (June) 2007, we discovered that there is no council. So, we are working very hard to see there is a council overseeing public procurement. The purpose of that is to ensure they follow due process.”

Noting that the recent nation-wide strike embarked upon by organized labour and civil society groups has thrown up a lot of issues bothering on corruption and accountability, Hon Ogbaburhon assured that the committee will not relent until the council is established, adding however, that those charged with public procurement in the country were doing well so far, as “we have not heard anything contrary” about them.

About N80billion, he said, is required to resuscitate the ailing Ajaokuta Steel rolling mill, which is a major factor in determining Nigeria’s emergence as one of the world’s best economies by the year 2020. This was one of the issues before the House Committee on Steel Development that considered appropriations to the all-important steel sector in the 2012 budget. Against the backdrop of the nation’s desire to emerging among the world’s best 20 economies by 2020, Ogbaburhon, a member of the Committee on Steel Development indicated that the whooping sum of N80billion needed to put Ajaokuta back on stream or a substantial part of it, would be approved by the National Assembly in this year’s budget, noting that this would enable work begin in earnest at the complex.

“It is quite good that we have a workable steel complex in this country; any developing country like Nigeria that strives to be in the league of world’s best economies by the year 2020 needs the steel industry to achieve this feat. The importance of steel development cannot be over-emphasized, especially for developing countries”, Hon Ogbaburhon, former chairman, Okpe and Udu local government councils in Delta State said.

He was emphatic that, ”Ajaokuta is not dead but there is no activity going on in Ajaokuta right now. To put Ajaokuta on stream, the money is quite huge – close to N80 billion…because a major part of the steel complex is completed; less than 20 per cent is yet to be completed. Due to long abandonment of the place, most of the parts are obsolete.” The lawmaker added that being the only surviving steel complex owned by government in the country, Ajaokuta deserves all the attention, insisting that all hands must be on deck to bring it back on stream.

“The other two steel companies in the country – Delta Steel Company, is now a private company while National Iron Ore Company, Itakpe, is obsolete and not working. The government should really work hard to see that we put our steel company on stream…. develop the Ajaokuta Steel Company”, he stressed.

Hon. Ogbaburhon also has a word for his constituents: “They should be rest assured that we are doing all we can to ensure they are well taken care of. They should be patient because we are still very new in the House, especially as a first timer. Our major problem is unemployment, so we are engaged on how we can make good laws to create jobs. We are also working on how we can get infrastructural developments to our constituencies – to see that our impact is felt within our constituencies. Certainly, we will teach our constituents how to catch fish (i.e. empower them).”

JUSTUS AWAJI, ABUJA