Yar’Adua may sack ministers over 2008 budget - Experts lament, say economy in danger - I have nothing to say - Minister

From Taiwo Adisa, Lanre Oyetade, Rasheed Komolafe, Odidison Omankhanlen and Sola Fadare - 21.07.2008

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua may have decided to replace the two finance ministers over what sources called the dismal performance of the Ministry of Finance in the handling of the 2008 budget.

The 2008 Budget is set to become the worst in terms of implementation in the country, following the disagreements that greeted its passage and the Presidential assent between February and April.

President Yar’Adua had assented to the budget in April on the condition that he would later send an amendment to the National Assembly on contentious areas.

The amendment was sent to the lawmakers three weeks ago. Sources, however, told the Nigerian Tribune that the President was unhappy with the Ministry of Finance on the handling of the budget.

A source in the presidency said that Yar’Adua had ordered an independent investigation into the budget imbroglio, which gave the verdict that a lot of shoddy preparations from the ministers led to the mix-up in the budget.

The Ministry of Finance was originally blamed by the National Assembly for alleged failure to provide the nation’s revenue profile for 2008, which would guide the lawmakers in passing the budget.

The National Assembly waited till late January before the Finance Minister forwarded the detailed revenue profile and the sources of hidden accounts, which led to the discovery of over N300 billion hidden funds.

“The 2008 budget will not be ready till September, when the lawmakers return from recess and that is partly because the Ministry of Finance failed to do its homework properly. The President is angry that a report from an independent probe indicated that the ministry did not work in tandem with the vision of the government in preparing the 2008 budget, leading to the wide disagreement between the executive and the legislature.”

It was gathered that the Minister of Finance, who is aware of the thinking in the presidency, has deliberately kept a low profile in recent weeks, while preparations on the 2009 budget have started.

When contacted on telephone, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, declined comments on the issue.

Also, calls and a text message to the media aide to the Minister of Finance, Mallam Sanni Zoro, were not responded to.

In a related development, stakeholders in the economy have expressed concern over the budget muddle, saying that it was a veritable tool for corruption and could cause economic collapse if the pattern continued.

According to the National President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Mr. Samuel Nzekwe, the budget delay had serious implications for the economy, amounting to government spending without planning.

He stressed the need for the Federal Government and the National Assembly to work together to ensure early passage of the budget.

“Late budget passage is not the best for the country. It is not like that elsewhere. This issue must be thrashed out. What we have currently is where there is spending without planning,” he said.

Also commenting on the late budget, a chartered accountant and an investment banker, Mr. Adenubi Shofoluwe, said it was anti-development and retrogressive, regretting that a country that wanted to become a global economy in 2020 could not pass a budget at the beginning of the year.

Shofoluwe advised that the budget should not be politicised as it was the benchmark for planning in any country.

Manufacturers have described the situation as worrisome because, according to them, it did not give room for proper planning.

Commenting on it, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Bashir Borodo, said business operations without proper planning could not give positive results, saying the late passage of the budget had made it difficult for manufacturers to plan in line with government policies spelt out in the budget.

Borodo advised the Federal Government to copy the private sector where planning, according to him, was accorded a priority in operating any meaningful venture.

On its part, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), in a statement obtained by the Nigerian Tribune, noted that government should refrain from emergency presentation of the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly without ensuring the usual budget defence often carried out by government ministries, department and agencies, which must have delayed the passage of the budget.

NACCIMA said “though the budget is laudable, we counsel that government should demonstrate the political will by ensuring early passage of the Appropriation Bill as well as timely release of funds to ministries, departments and agencies to ensure the early commencement of the projects and its adequate execution.”