2016: FG Earmarks N6.08trn; To Recruit 500,000 Teachers …N438.4bn For Works, Power, Housing …Buhari’s Budget Is A Joke -Pat Utomi

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (middle), acknowledging cheers from a jubilant crowd that trooped out to welcome him at Bishop Okoye Street in Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt, during an inspection of road projects in the area on Monday

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to recruit five hundred thousand teachers within the 2016 fiscal year as part of measures to tackle unemployment and to reduce illiteracy in the country.
Mr President in view of the lingering fuel scarcity yesterday tendered unreserved apology to Nigerians and promised that the problem would fizzle out soonest having directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC) to find alternative means of funding the subsidy regime.
Buhari made these disclosures during  his presentation of N6.08 trillion 2016 budget proposal yesterday  to a joint session of the National Assembly. He stated that the Federal Government will in collaboration with States and Local Governments to recruit  the 500, 000 teachers from the teeming population of unemployed undergraduates and holders of National Certificates of Education (NCE).
The recruitment of the teachers is captured in the 2016 budget proposal , under N300 billion voted for special intervention programme in the budget.
The N6.08 trillion budget as proposed by the President is predicated on $38 oil price bench mark, 2.2 million barrel of oil production per day and N197 to a dollar as exchange rate.
N1.8 trillion was voted for capital expenditure,  N2.65 trillion for recurrent expenditure and N3.86 trillion targeted revenue, The proposal runs on a deficit of N2.22 trillion..
Out of the N3.86 trillion targeted revenue, N1.45 trillion is proposed to be raised from non oil revenue, N1.51 trillion from Independent revenues while the balance of about N900 billion will be from the oil revenue.
The deficit of N2.22 trillion in the budget according to Mr. President would be financed by both domestic and external borrowings of N984 billion  and N900 billion respectively.
From the N1.8trillion capital expenditure Power , Works and Housing top every other vote with N433.4 billion allocation followed by Transport – N202.0 billion; Defence – N134.6 billion; and Interior – N53.1 billion.
According to Buhari, the huge  investments in infrastructure and security are meant to support reforms in the Agriculture, Solid Minerals and “other core job creating sectors of our economy”.
The Education sector on the other hand, has the highest allocation under the N2.35 trillion recurrent expenditure with N369.6billion, followed by Defence with N294.5 billion,  N221.7 billion for Health and N145.3 billion for the Ministry of Interior.
Speaking further on the proposed revitalization of the Education sector ? President Buhari said
“ As an emergency measure, to address the chronic shortage of teachers in public schools across the country, we also will partner with State and Local Governments to recruit, train and deploy 500,000 unemployed graduates and NCE holders. These graduate teachers will be deployed to primary schools, thereby, enhancing the provision of basic education especially in our rural areas”.
Under the special intervention find, the president also disclosed that the federal government intends to partner with State and Local Governments to provide financial training and loans to market women, traders and artisans, through their cooperative societies as Important platforms of creating jobs and providing opportunities for entrepreneurs.
His words , ‘“this  will ensure our teachers, armed forces personnel, doctors, nurses, police men, fire fighters, prison service officers and many more critical service providers are paid competitively and on time”
On the current fuel scarcity, he noted that . It is as a result of market speculators and resistance to change by some stakeholders.
” I have also directed the NNPC to explore alternate funding models that will enable us to honour our obligations in Joint Ventures (JVs) and deep offshore fields. We are confident that these measures can be achieved and will lower the burden that the traditional cash calls have imposed on our budget and cash flows as well as contribute towards shoring up our national reserves” He said.
President Buhari said the Budget represents a major step in delivering a new opportunity for Nigeria.
Earlier, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki as Chairman of the National Assembly, assured President Buhari of full cooperation and support of the federal parliamentarians for his change agenda and successful implementation of the 2016 budget.
His words : “Let me assure you Mr. President, that with the 8th National Assembly you have got a partner. An ally to help you steer the ship of State in the right direction for growth, transparency, accountability, equal opportunities, inclusion and fairness.
“We will stand by you and work with you to see Nigeria become the pride of all Nigerians home and abroad and earn the respect it deserves in the global arena”.
President Buhari came for the presentation with the members of the federal executive council and other appointees of the President, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State,, and National Executive members of the All Progressives Congress.
Meanwhile, Nigerian Economist, Professor Pat Utomi yesterday stated that the 2016 national budget presented to the National Assembly was ‘a joke’.
President Muhammadu Buhari had presented the 2016 national budget which is estimated at over six trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly, yesterday.
“Putting it in a very awkward position, I consider the budget process a joke,” he said.
Utomi spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily yesterday morning, few hours before the presentation of the budget by President Muhammadu Buhari before a joint session of the National Assembly.
He said the issue was not about making luxurious budget but argued that the major deterrent was always implementation.
“We somehow do not have the discipline of the budget process, we go through budget as public relations exercises because they are supposed to be done and decision makers go ahead to do whatever they want to do,” he said.
Proffering solutions to the problem of budget implementation, Professor Utomi said that “the goal is to achieve an execution premium, but if those who are responsible for it (the budget) really had no plan whatsoever to follow the budget, then, you are wasting your time.
“When those who are responsible for it, do not see long term goals in which the budget is just a piece in an unfolding set of activities that would reach a certain goal, there is no point of it.
“I think what has happened to us is that we got to a point of disconnect between the leadership elite, the political class, the bureaucratic elite and development aspirations of the Nigeria people,” he said.
Professor Utomi further said that the major reason why the budget isn’t working in Nigeria is ‘leadership’.
“There is low energy in leadership. we are not leading the country in the right direction.
“What the country is dealing with is a huge financing gap; we used to earn so much and now, we are earning this much, if we pretend that nothing has changed, then we would go into an economic spiral”, he added.
Similarly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the N6.8 trillion 2016 federal budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday as a big fraud.
The opposition party tagged the budget as executive conspiracy ironed towards mortgaging the future of Nigeria.
In a statement yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP frowned at President Buhari’s decision to borrow N2 trillion.
It described it as a height of recklessness and deceit from a government that thrives on propaganda.
The statement says, “It is obvious that this budget is an extension of the campaign promises of the APC government, presented as a manifesto filled with bogus promises which implementation will be inconclusive, thereby allowing the APC to once again deny their promises.
“There has never been any known economy in the world where government deliberately mortgage the future of its nation by borrowing excessively to finance partisan interests while hiding under bogus welfare programmes. This is moreso important as the APC in reeling out their bogus campaign promises never informed Nigerians that they would mortgage their future through excessive borrowing.
“We have it on good authority that this is the first in the series of APC borrowings which would leave the future generation of Nigerians under the burden of huge debts after four years.
“By all standards, the 2016 budget, the first major economic policy outing of this government, is completely unrealistic and duplicitously embellished with impractical predications, a development that confirms fears by economy watchers and investors that this administration is obviously ill-equipped for governance.”
“We are indeed shocked that President Buhari and his minister of information have come up with two different reasons for the current fuel crisis in the country. While we appreciate the President’s apology, we think it is high time he called this minister to order as his excessive propaganda and blame game are ridiculing this administration and the image of the nation.
“Furthermore, it is instructive to note the official endorsement of Mr. President to the devaluation of the naira as against his campaign promise of firming up the value of our currency even to the much vaunted one naira to one dollar. Does it mean that Mr. President lied his way to power, or that he did not understand the complexities of governance when he was making his false promises to Nigerians?” the PDP asked.
Continuing, the PDP said: “In future, there is need to regulate campaign promises so that we will not end up with a government that promises to climb Mount Everest with bare hands and end up mortgaging our future with orchestrated borrowings.
“Finally, we want to request Mr. President to once again to involve experienced and well-tested hands in the management of the economy and budgeting processes. This economy is not for Mr. President, neither is it for the APC. The progress of the economy is for all Nigerians and as such, due care should taken to save ourselves from unrealistic and deceptive programmes.”