The budget proposals of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources appear to be an exercise in creating deliberate confusion.  The implementation of the Petroleum Industry Bill is to cost N520.5m, a bill which has yet to be passed by the National Assembly. Interestingly, the sum of N17m was approved for this activity in 2012. There is a sum of N254.7m for the renovation of 7, Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State in the vote of the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the same sum is also proposed for the same address by the Department of Petroleum Resources. Further, the same amount is proposed for the same address and activity in the proposal of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board.

The DPR, NNRC and the NCDMB have the following other duplications in their proposals: Real Time Monitoring of Gas Facilities, Production and  Operations for N150m; and Construction of National Laboratory in Owerri for N300m. Further duplications include Construction/Provision of Office Buildings for DPR HQTRS, Abuja for N500m; Implementation of Trucking Policy for N150m; Gas Flaredown Monitoring Facilities and Services for N100m and Instrument for Gas Pipeline Surveillance (Real Time) for N100m. The three agencies further have the following in their proposals namely Lease of three number seven-seater helicopter for Inspection and Monitoring of Offshore Terminals (FPSO/FSO) for N200m; Monitoring and Evaluation for N50m; Pilot Project on Novel Oil and Gas Exploration Technology for N365.289m.  The poser that arises in all these is clear; Are the three agencies supposed to be doing exactly the same set of things? If the answer is in the affirmative, then the National Assembly’s approval should be for only one agency and this will suffice.

The Ministry of Agriculture continued its ridicule of the intellect of right-thinking citizens which it started in 2012 through provisions that just repeated general names like seed, seeds, seedlings, fertilisers over and over again with figures attached to them. Is it not possible under fertilisers to give one figure and same for seeds listing the varieties? There are no details of the projects they are attached to and the location of the activities. Just like the 2012 approval, this is another crude joke and provides the best opportunity for funds to be mismanaged and for the Ministry to be accountable to no one. If the funds to be spent were the private funds of the Minister and the Permanent Secretary, then this can be tolerated. Fortunately, they are public funds. No one under any guise should be given public resources for nebulous proposals that cannot be monitored. This is definitely not the best way to craft a budget. Best practices demand that a budget be clearly written in such a way that the public can understand its provisions and be able to track its expenditure. The National Assembly should throw the budget back to the Minister to re-present same in an acceptable and reasonable format – just like the budget of other ministries.

The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs revels in chasing shadows and leaving out projects that will positively impact on the lives of the people of the region. The ministry requests N406.2m for consultancy services on survey of nine sites in the Niger Delta region; and N644.3m for Niger Delta project implementation liaison offices/ facilitation of communication strategy. What exactly are these requests for? N1.6bn is proposed for youth/women empowerment training and a further N484.4m for peace and security enlightenment sensitisation programme. Evidently, these are general slush funds that will likely be wasted without anything to show for it. Who needs sensitisation for peace rather than economic empowerment and new livelihoods to put food on the table? Meanwhile, key and important projects like the East-West Road are not receiving enough funding that should move them to completion after so many years of project implementation.

The number of projects and activities designated for the Ministry of Works, following the trend in previous years are unacceptably high and the resources are so thinly spread out. This is the same challenge in the Ministry of Water Resources. This will eventually lead to very poor results. If we are to double the overall federal budget, it will not be enough to complete the projects earmarked for the Ministry of Works. It therefore makes eminent sense to prioritise and rationalise. The ministry’s position makes a very clear case for reform laws and policies including the establishment of a Road Fund and opening up the space for new capital from the private sector through public-private partnerships.

The Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform is now a permanent committee established without any enabling law. What is the task of this committee that cannot be done by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development? It is recommended that whatever funds proposed for this committee should be transferred to the ministry.

The provision of N1.8bn in the Consolidated Revenue Fund for pilgrimages and further sums of N724.4m for the National Hajj Commission and N643m for Christian Pilgrim Commission is not only illegal but unconstitutional. The 1999 Constitution forbids the adoption of state religion and there can be no better evidence of adoption than state funding of pilgrimages. Anyone who wants to exercise the tenets of his faith should be able and willing to work hard to pay his way through. Government subsidy is unwarranted. Virtually every agency has a vote for uniforms and one begins to wonder whether every agency needs uniforms and who wears these uniforms.

Why are we not getting our priorities right in the budget? It appears that what we do every year in the name of budgeting is to add and subtract figures from the previous year’s budget heads and add new projects as a spice. The bureaucracy hardly sits down with the political leadership to interrogate budget proposals and take the hard decisions needed for prioritisation and investing scarce resources in the most needed projects. And where Public Private Partnerships seem to be succeeding as in the aviation sector, why are we not deepening the initiative? Rather, we are insisting on investing scarce public resources when there are viable alternatives.  All these should have been resolved by planning through a good Medium Term Sector Strategies for all spending agencies.

These recommendations are made on the understanding that we have a listening legislative and executive arms of government. But previous experience does not bear this out. The ultimate enforcement of proposals for the common good lies with the people. A group of budget analysts and activists will not achieve a lot if the people choose to stand aloof and be docile. The time is ripe for the 2013 budget estimates to be discussed in groupings of the Organised Private Sector, Labour, the church and the mosque, market places and social movements. Strong and informed engagement of the fiscal authorities for a proper budget that takes cognisance of the rights of all while encouraging economic growth and job creation is required.

Eze Onyekpere