Former president Olusegun Obasanjo Thursday displayed surprise over comments credited to the National Assembly that during his time, he signed budgets into law without seeing the details.
Obasanjo said that the purveyors of the news at the National Assembly needed to be contacted the second time to prove the authenticity of the information.
The former president also feigned ignorance of the travails of the senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over false assets declaration.
He spoke tacitly to the State House Correspondents after a private meeting with president Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday.
The interview which was very brief but laced with humors ran thus:
Purpose of visit
“You know that not too long ago I was out there and I came to share some of my experiences with him.”
What are those experiences?
“If I say I share experiences with my wife, will you ask what I discussed with my wife?”
You were mentioned as signing budgets without the details during your time. Did the issue of budget come up in the meeting with the president?
“Emm, I signed budget without details? Anybody who told you that, go and ask him again”
Tell us your feelings about the 2016 budget and the issues?
“To be able to tell you about the budget I have to read the budget to know it contains and what it doesn’t.”
The delays in signing the budget and the attendant effect on Nigerians.
“No. The constitution allows you to continue with the budget provided you did not go beyond the previous year and that can be done uptill the middle of the year.”
The Benue state 2nd stakeholders' meeting was today held at the new Banquet Hall,Benue Peoples' House in Makurdi.
In his welcome remarks,the Benue state deputy governor,Engr Benson Abounu welcomed all stakeholders to the event. He said that it was the 'usual' stakeholders meeting governor Samuel Ortom has always convened in the past to brief the people of the state on the activities of his government.
Governor Samuel Ortom in his address decried the deficit treasury he inherited from the immediate past administration of Dr Gabriel Suswam which according to him has greatly hampered his smooth take off culminating in his inability to pay salaries of civil servants as well as local government and primary schools in the state .
The governor disclosed that his administration has introduced an alternate mechanism in the payment of both local government staff,as well as primary school teachers. "Local government staff would take this month,and the primary school teachers would take the next month".
The governor informed the stakeholders that the Benue state civil servants have refused to show understanding with his administration,and have refused to further sacrifice arguing that they should be treated like their counterparts(lecturers) at the Benue state university who have collected their salaries up to the month of February,2016."Iam in a fix", governor Ortom lamented.
In another development,governor Ortom decried the problem of Fulani insurgency which according to him has ravaged the state...he however commended the efforts of president Muhammadu Buhari in the deployment of security agents,but insisted that more needed to be done by the federal government . The governor also insisted on his position that Benue state was not going to allow for the grazing routes to be established in the state since Benue state was predominantly farmers...
He advised the people of the state to go back to Agriculture to sustain its name as the food basket of the nation.
Earlier in their various responses and contributions,various stakeholders including opposition parties,representatives of Labour,ASUU,the clergy,captains of industries,Senior advocates of Nigeria,Retired Generals,traditional rulers among others commended governor Ortom for the initiative to constantly brief the stakeholders,a development they said should be sustained.
The stakeholders unanimously called for sacrifice on part of dwindling federal allocations to states,since fuel price has also dropped on the international market.
On the issue of security ,the stakeholders called for setting up of various security committees at both wards,local government as well as state levels to constantly monitor and report back to the state government for necessary actions.
Governor Samuel Ortom however told the stakeholders that despite the numerous challenges his administration has faced,he has been able to record tremendous achievements. Some of the Achievements he enumerated included included; payment of accreditation requirements of college of Health Sciences and BSU Teaching Hospital leading to granting of accreditation by medical and Dental council of Nigeria; payment of salaries to BSU Tecnical staff school after 5 years of non payment; re engagement with development partners,UN,UNHCR,UNFPA,UNICEF,world Bank,IFAD,USAID,DIFD,and others; renovation of schools of Nursing and Midwifery;mobilized contractors for the construction of 11different roads across the state;approved the release of7.6 billion Naira for renovation of primary schools across the state; completion of Otobi water works,and many others.
Ahead of the expected judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, following yesterday’s commencement of his trial over false assets declaration when he held sway as governor of Kwara State, Senate President, Bukola Saraki may throw in the towel by resigning from his position any movement from now.
In other not to be humiliated while on the throne, some senators including those who had vowed to remain with him to the end of his trial at the anti-graft court, yesterday, asked the Senate President to consider the resignation option so as to save the Senate, as an institution.
It was gathered that the option was thrown to him at a special meeting held by a group of some loyal senators, who followed him to his Maitama residence, shortly after the end of yesterday’s trial at the court.
But as Saraki is considering the option, senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, appeared to be at loggerhead with their counterparts in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the Senate President’s successor.
While the APC senators are insisting on producing Saraki’s successor, those of the PDP are favorably disposed to anointing one of their own, a development that has further polarized the Red Chamber.
A senator of the PDP fold, who spoke to Vanguard late yesterday, but on condition that his identity would not be mentioned, said Saraki was given the option of resigning basically to save the institution of the legislature. ‘”I can confirm to you that at a special meeting held yesterday, we asked the Senate President to consider the option of resignation.
“We believe that doing so would preserve the institution of the Senate, “he said, refusing to speak further. Asked whether the Senate President was considering the resignation option, the lawmaker said ‘” this was just thrown at him this evening. We believe that he would do the right thing.'”.
Meanwhile, names of senators Abdullahi Adamu, representing Nasarawa West from the APC and Suleiman Adokwe of the PDP were being touted as possible replacements of the Senate President to press time.
13-year-old Nigerian girl who interviewed president Muhammadu Buhari in Washington D.C has revealed more on the encounter between both of them. Zuriel Oduwole who has interviewed 18 presidents and youngest in the world to have been on the cover of Forbes Magazine -took to her page this morning to write;
"Meeting President Buhari of Nigeria. So when the world calls a country Giant of Africa, it could mean many things. I started my day today with a Giant Breakfast at the Mandarin Hotel in Washington DC. The Hotel paid for everything - I guess because the LORD is the real owner Thank you Jesus. I read some news to know all thats going on, before my meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. I talked to him about Education, I asked him about the success of the fight against corruption, what he wanted his legacy to be after he leaves office, how he sees Nigeria. He was very pleased to see me and he said some funny things too. Being President of any country is Hard. I know because I have now spoken to 19 world leaders and they all say the same thing about this. LORD, Give me wisdom to make good decisions every time. Thank you for ordering my steps, and for putting me before Kings."
Some power brokers in the Peoples Democratic Party are plotting to counter an alleged plan by the current Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to transmute into the party’s presidential candidate in 2019.
There is a belief within the party that Sheriff and Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, are planning to jointly run for the presidency in 2019.
A reliable source within the party told our correspondents that Fayose backed Sheriff for the chairmanship position because he (Fayose) had plans to be Sheriff’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election.
Two weeks ago, Sheriff, a former Governor of Borno State, had said that God “used Fayose to make me chairman.”
Already, the PDP, which is in control of only two northern states (Gombe and Taraba), has zoned the presidency to the North in 2019.
A member of the Board of Trustees of the party from the North-East who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no way both men would be allowed to fly the party’s ticket.
The source, a party man of several years standing, said, “This is a joke of the century. These two are controversial. Sheriff has not even been allowed into the party fully.
“Now, they are saying he wants to be President. It isn’t possible. That will signify the death of the party as millions would either defect or go and form another party.”
A reliable source within the party said some party chiefs were bothered by Sheriff and Fayose’s close relationship. In recent times, both men have attended several social events together including the wedding of Fayose’s niece in Lagos on Saturday.
He said, “Sheriff is rich but he is not the richest northern politician in the PDP. He does not have the backing of the northern elements in the PDP given the fact that he is still quite new in the party. Sheriff’s tenure is meant to end by May but there is a plot to elongate his tenure till 2018 and in the process, gain control of the party structure.
“He will then resign and run for the presidency but we will not allow him.”
The source said, “Already, supporters of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and former FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, are spoiling for a fight as both governors also have presidential ambitions. In the current dispensation, the governors are two of the most influential PDP politicians from the North.
“Fayose has obviously miscalculated. He is going in October 2018 and his immunity will end seven months before Buhari’s tenure ends. With the way he has been attacking President Muhammadu Buhari, I don’t know how he will survive without his immunity within that period. He thinks his support for Sheriff will endear him to northern politicians but they are not happy with him with the way he has been attacking Buhari.”
Two weeks ago, the South-West chapter of the party had declared its support for the North to retain the PDP’s national chairmanship position and endorsed Senator Buruji Kashamu as its zonal leader.
Another source, a senior party man, told our correspondent that the endorsement of Sheriff was a ploy to ensure that he remained as the chairman till 2018.
The source who is a member of the PDP Ministers’ Forum, told our correspondent that Fayose, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Kashamu were “taking members of the party for granted”.
“Sheriff’s plan is to metamorphose from the chairman to the presidential candidate and that was why Fayose brought him in. Fayose, Wike and Buruji are the ones supporting Sheriff for President. The North will get the presidency but their plan will not work because Sheriff is not our candidate,” he said.
Why Fayose is backing Sheriff — Aide
However, Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said Fayose was concerned with governance and thus had no time to be scheming for 2019.
Adelusi said Fayose was supporting Sheriff because he wanted the party to be strong ahead of the 2019 elections.
He said, “The governor is busy with the construction of three legacy projects the New Oba Market; the flyover and the airport. These are the three legacy projects. He has even said repeatedly that he is not running for the Senate.
“His plan is to deliver the dividends of democracy. His support for Sheriff is to stabilise the party so that the party can win again in 2019. The party is almost in disarray due to the exodus of many of the leaders to the APC. He supported a national chairman that can re-engineer the party. His love for Sheriff is based on the love he has for the party.”
S’West should produce chairman — Chieftain
A chieftain of the PDP in Ogun State, Mr. Fasiu Bakene, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, said the South-West should produce the party chairman.
He stated, “The recent call by some members of the PDP from the South-West pushing for the national chairman from the North is nothing but for personal benefit of the major convener of the meeting.
“Firstly, since 1998, the South-West had never produced the party’s chairman. Secondly, the Senator Ike Ekweremadu Committee had zoned the presidency to the North. Thirdly, it is an attempt to arm-twist and get favour of the party’s national chairman.”
Fayose bold enough to contest any office – Babatope
On his part, a Board of Trustees member of the PDP, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said that Fayose is qualified to emerge as the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP.
Babatope, who spoke in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, on Saturday, said Fayose had yet to make his rumoured ambition public.
The former Minister of Transport, however, said that it was the turn of the South-West region to produce the next national chairman of the PDP.
He said, “Governor Ayodele Fayose has not told anyone that he wants to vie for the vice-presidential ticket of the PDP. He is a bold politician, who would come out and contest for an office he wishes to occupy. But so far, all is still in the realm of speculation.
“The South-West wanted the position of the national chairman of the PDP but former President Olusegun Obasanjo truncated the aspiration because he wanted to become the PDP BoT chairman.”
When asked if he was in contention for the PDP national chairmanship, Babatope said he was not.
“I am not running for the PDP national chairmanship. But I will support anyone from the zone to clinch the position. The South-West zone deserves the position.
“If the North is producing the presidential candidate, the South-West should have the national chairmanship position” he said.
Babatope said the vice-presidential ticket of the PDP would be up for grabs in 2019 while that of the national chairmanship is a pressing issue.
“When we reach the river we would cross it. The vice-presidential ticket would be vied for in 2019 but the national chairmanship post is a pressing issue,” Babatope said.
The Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has accused some members of his cabinet of deliberately sabotaging his government.
The governor stated this at the Council Chamber, Government House, during an expanded emergency meeting with heads of boards, ministries and parastals.
The meeting was attended by commissioners, special advisers, permanent secretaries, heads of tertiary institutions and directors of board and parastals.
Al-Makura said, “This meeting is special and unique. I believe that when we practise democracy, we should do it in a good form. We need to promote democracy by sensitising the public on governance. Some of you here go around giving different impression about governance.
“Let us concentrate our attention on the unity, vision and objective for which the state was created.”
The governor added, “Is that the call for the creation of Nasarawa State? Do we achieve the objective of creating Nasarawa State? What are we bringing towards the development of Nasarawa State?
“Have you sat down and asked what value you have added to this state? What success story are you bringing to develop the state compared to its sister states?”
He said his administration was determined to ensure prompt payment of workers’ salaries.
He also said that very soon, 1,500 youths would be empowered with different skills in order to avoid youth restiveness in the state.
He advised civil servants to obtain their Bank Verification Number, adding that only those with BVN number would be paid.
The newly inaugurated member and secretary to Benue state Independent Electoral commission(BSIEC),Barr John Shishi has assured the people of Benue state of credible,fair and transparent elections soonest possible.
Barr Shishi made the assurance yesterday at the precious conference centre in Makurdi during a reception held in his honour by the Nongov Development Association. The new BSIEC secretary lamented the sorry state of affairs at the commission,said the Benue people needed to be patient with the commission,and Samuel Ortom administration to deliver on its mandate to the people.
Earlier in his goodwill massage,Mr Anyamkande,president General,Nongov Development Association thanked governor Samuel Ortom for the appointment of his son as the secretary of the newly constituted Benue electoral body. He called on Nongov,and the entire Benue people to support the new secretary in the discharge of his new assignment.
Several other well wishers including Dr Tersoo Kperai,the district head of Kaambe expressed optimism in the ability of the new appointee to succeed.
Former Benue gubernatorial aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rt Hon. Emmanuel Jime has been appointed the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), according to a source.
Jime was formerly Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and later member representing Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives before he entered the Benue gubernatorial race and was famously known as winner of the botched APC primaries in December 2014.
An aggrieved Jime approached the court to seek justice but was later embroiled in a signature forgery scandal, after which he agreed to out-of-court settlement with Governor Samuel Ortom whose emergence as the party’s gubernatorial candidate he challenged. Though the appointment letter is yet to be given to him officially, we will update you as soon as the official announcement is made.
While elections into various local councils in the state is being expected,contenders have either stepped forward or are being Clamoured by various interest groups to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the present administration in the state to conduct the local government elections before the end of the year.
In Makurdi local government Area for instance,the clamour for the present caretaker chairman of the council,Hon Joseph Gbashima to seek to be elected as the chairman of the council has continued to swell on a daily basis.
One of such groups,Makurdi Target Association for Gbashima 2016,Nyorgyungu youths for Gbashima 2016, Ipusu patriots ,Hausa youths, isherev vanguard,as well as Ibo United group for Gbashima 2016,among many others have come up in support of this project.
These groups have argued that within a relatively short period on the saddle,Gbashima has demonstrated commitment on the job,as a reasonable number of projects have been executed even with the ever dwindling allocations from the federation accounts. Some of these projects include;
*construction of culvert at Yandev street in wadata
*commissioning of Yaikyor market (where the local government now generates substantial revenue )
*opening of Adaka market,Naka Road
*employment of reasonable number casual staff(taking the youths off the streets)
* promotion of local government staff from grade level1-6 for the very first time in the history of Makurdi local government
*sponsorship of sporting activities in the local government
*settlement of medical bills to many patients within and around Makurdi
*construction of 6 motorized boreholes at different locations within Makurdi and its environs
Apart from the physical projects executed,Hon Gbashima is said to be accessible...his office is open to all manner of people. Unlike many council chairmen we have had before him,he hardly discriminates on basis of Ipusu,Hausa ,Ibo,Isherev,Yoruba etc.
In another perspective,if the Tiv philosophy of 'ya na angbian',eat and give your neighbor must be applied in his case,he stands tall,having come from Ugondo community who have never tested the position on electoral basis.
A support for Hon Joseph Gbashima is a support for a new beginning.
A professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Professor Sheriffdeen Tella, tells BAYO AKINLOYE that the 2016 budget is a replication of previous budgets
What do you think of the 2016 budget?
The 2016 budget is like any budget, a proposal showing government’s ex ante income and expenditure for a specified period which is normally one year. Within that context, the 2016 budget contains sectoral programmes and projects the government intends to execute subject to availability of funds from identified domestic and international sources. It is a desirable and necessary legal document for expenditure authorisation by the legislative arm of government.
Does the country need a budget of N6 trillion going by the current state of its economy? Is it enough?
The current state of an economy is always factored in, among other important variables, in preparation of a budget. Thus, the state of the economy inherited by the current government required that the economy must be reflated to avoid deeper recession. That is, a budget deficit is a necessity. The amount required would depend on the programmes and projects to be executed which require some calculation. Whether N6 trillion is sufficient or not depends on that calculation, which only the people involved in the budget formulation had information to rely upon.
Is it a stimulus budget?
Every deficit budget is regarded as a stimulus budget and the 2016 budget cannot be an exemption. Recent information coming out of the government circle is indicative that the budget was amplified or padded by the federal civil servants. If this is true, then cleaning up the budget might reduce the magnitude of deficit. But this will naturally affect the positive impact of the budget effects of the economy.
What do you make of the budget’s $38 benchmark as against crude selling for less than that price?
The $38 per barrel of crude oil benchmark is rather ambitious given the rapid rate at which the price of crude oil plummeted in 2015 and the fact that the factors that led to such precarious situation subsist till now. A conservative benchmark is required and that should be around $30 per barrel. In fact, the country should be looking towards a future when some other variables can be used as benchmark for budget rather than oil price which is unstable and represents external shocks. This is possible if we discount the importance of oil in the revenue equation. This implies that the structure of the revenue will have to change through concerted efforts at making non-oil sector revenue to grow rapidly and consistently.
What has to be fixed in the budget?
It is important that the National Assembly devote time to go through the budget because it was prepared in haste by the Ministry of Planning, given the delay in the appointment of the ministers. In going through the budget, they must start thinking of changing the item for benchmarking the budget in the nearest future just as agreeing with a lower crude oil benchmark for the present budget to make it more realistic. If it happens, as predicted internationally that the price of oil will rise by 50 per cent later in the year, then an excess could occur to reduce the envisaged deficit. Also, the expected foreign debt financing must be tied to projects rather than government consumption expenditure.
Last week the media was awash with reports that a “budget mafia” in the civil service had doctored the 2016 budget. What do you think should be happening now given the anti-corruption stand of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration?
I do not share the idea that some ‘’mafia’ are responsible for the lapses found in the 2016 budget. My suspicion is that the budget was done without necessary caution and dexterity. It was done the ‘business-as-usual’ fashion. What this means is that no new budget was prepared. All that was done was to dust up the previous budget and allocate funds to the items therein without cleaning them up. If the content of the current budget is checked with the ones for the last three to four years, it will be clear that the current (budget) is a replica of one or combinations of previous budgets. If one looks at the items of complaints on the past budgets and the present ones, the similarity will be glaring. Efficiency and effectiveness in budget preparation have departed from the Ministry of Budget and Planning or Ministry of Finance for a long time. If the normal budget cycle doctrine is followed, all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies would have presented their respective budgets before the ministry in charge of budgeting at the first cycle or the phase tagged ‘Budget Preparation,’ and there would not be the need for any ministry or agency to disown its budget before the National Assembly as is being presently witnessed. The problem with the 2016 budget is more about laziness than corruption (on the part of the civil servants).
And what sanctions will you recommend?
If I am right, that what happened is not so much about corruption, then there is the need for the Minister (of Finance, Mrs. Funke Adeosun) to take control of the 2016 budget and subsequent ones by making sure the current one is cleaned up and a new framework for budget preparation is adopted. The staff have to be disengaged from the ministry by transfer, retrenchment and retirement. However, if the issue of corruption surfaces at any level, then prosecution and attendant punishment must follow due process.
A minister came out to disown a budget that came out of his ministry; don’t you think that is scandalous?
As I explained earlier, ministers disowned their budgets because due process and the budget preparation phase were not followed. At the time the ministers were appointed, the Ministry of Budget and Planning already had draft budgets for the nation and this was dusted and handed over to the President for presentation. The Minister of Budget and Planning and the Minister of Finance had no time going through the budget by themselves or to give it to a group of experts to scrutinise the draft. There are a lot of embarrassing situations which require corresponding punishment. A major lesson to learn is that due process must be followed in budget preparation and that such preparation must start early enough to meet required deadlines.
The National Assembly has rejected the budget on the ground that it is full of errors. Where does this leave the country given the fact that Nigeria’s Financial Year Act of 1980, Section One, states that Nigeria’s budget year shall run from January 1 till December 31?
In the last few years, we have not seen a budget that was passed earlier than March of the following year, yet those budgets had never been thoroughly done or debated. We seem to have a way of doing things the wrong way and tagging it the ‘Nigerian factor’. A change must bring a stop to that practice and attitude. There is lacuna in the country’s law relating to budget implementation that allows some expenditure to be carried out pending approval of the budget by the National Assembly and that option has been exploited in the past. So, it will be exploited in this case while the present government works towards desirable change in budget formulation and implementation. The delay in approval, as in the past, will affect budget implementation, particularly with missing the full impact of implementation of the capital budget. What is more important is that budgets, either in formulation or implementation in the past few years were never taken seriously. They were mere ritual or documentation. Where in the budget did we get $2.1 billion allocated for purchase of arms? Such huge sum must be authorised properly in the budget by the legislature. There are so many items of expenditure without authorisation. It is budget impunity and it has to stop.
The 2015 budget was described as a budget of transition by the ex-Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and presenting the 2016 budget to the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari called it ‘The Budget of Change.’ What do you see as a difference, positive or negative, between the two budgets?
The comments arising from public discussion on the 2016 budget have shown that the title of the budget is a misnomer. The person that so baptised the budget knew there was no change in status quo but had to put a tag in the traditional fashion. It is another form of corruption that deserves punishment, even if it is for the embarrassment that it had caused the nation. The difference between the 2016 budget and that of 2015 is seen in the amount allocated to various items in the two budgets, with the former carrying bigger amount over and above the latter.
What’s zero-based budget?
Zero-based budget is, according to accounting terminology, a method of budgeting whereby all activities (programmes and projects) are re-evaluated each time a budget is prepared. The implication is that at the beginning of a budget year, all budget headings have a value of zero, like starting a project or programme anew, giving each a value based on current prices. Each ministry and agency must justify all expenditures for their programmes and projects above zero. It is different from the incremental budgeting that is the norm whereby a new budget tends to start from where the last one ends. That is, new amount of fund is added to the money allocated in the last budget year. That is what happened to 2016 budget whereby those who prepared the budget just added some amount of money on the items of last year’s budget whether those items were carried out or not.
An economist said it took the United States, which uses the ZBB, some three years to get it right with its budget system. Do you think, as he suggests, that Nigeria needs time to make this budget work? Should the Federal Government expect more hiccups?
The zero-based budget requires some techniques for its preparation and real training is required. The present budget is just the same incremental budgeting contrary to the notion that it is zero-based budget. The Vice-President (Prof. Yemi Osinbajo) promised that the administration would implement zero-based budget but was not emphatic that it would start this year. The zero-based budget requires some specialisation and caution. It tends to achieve an optimal allocation of scarce resources as the budget focuses on comprehensive analysis of objectives and needs of programmes and projects. It combines planning and budgeting into a single process. In Nigeria, there is dichotomy between budget and planning over the years and to implement the zero-based budgeting system, this should not be so. Majority of the states in the United States have not bought into the use of this budgeting approach and few countries around the world have been able to achieve near perfection.
Is the zero-based budget the best for the country? What are its demerits?
The zero-based budget is a good way to go but it works better in business organisations with limited scope and in countries with well-developed database, relatively stable prices and human capital expertise. These are lacking here. It will take some time to develop it. If we intend to transit to this budget approach, we can make the current incremental budgeting work in the meantime, if the budget is based on realistic percentage increase, achieve stable and low inflationary pressure and reduce corruption to the minimum as well as imbibe the concepts of budget discipline.
Must the Nigerian budget necessarily be anchored on price of crude oil?
In the interim, Nigeria cannot but rely on prices of crude oil as the anchor for the budget but the country must work out a new way in the next three to four years with steady increase in revenue from non-oil sectors.
What concrete efforts does the Federal Government need to make to diversify the economy?
Diversifying the Nigerian economy is not difficult if there is the political will to do so. Nature has blessed the country with variety of resources that can easily be tapped with the current level of global technology. There exist various technologies for modern agriculture, mining, industrialisation, et cetera. From crude oil, we can develop varieties of chemicals and products which are by-products of crude oil. We can diversify sources of electricity, including use of coal, thermal, solar and even nuclear energy.
What sectors can be described as ready economic gold mine for the country?
The major sectors that drive other sectors are agriculture and industry. The effects of forward and backward linkages of these sectors on other sectors are tremendous but we equally need the manpower to drive both. Our educational sector is not producing required skilled manpower, in terms of technological advancement. There are more ‘buying and selling’ graduates than scientists and there is the urgent need to send young ones abroad to study modern science so that in the next decade we can start moving in the same direction as the rest of the world. When people talk about the mining sector as a gold mine, I normally ask myself about the competence of Nigerians to exploit the mineral resources by local human capital. Or do we have to rely on foreigners again? So long as we are going to rely on foreigners, the so-called gold mine will be of no benefit to the country.
Do you think the allocation of N795m to update the website of the Ministry of Solid Minerals is justifiable?
Going back to the budget and all sorts of untenable allocations, it is apparent that the Federal Government should get some consultants to study and clean up the budget within four weeks so that the National Assembly can have a better document to work on. Returning the budget to the Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Budget and Planning may not produce the desirable results.
President Buhari was quoted as saying, ‘We are determined to ensure that our resources are managed prudently and utilised solely for the public good. To set the proper tone, one of our early decisions was the adoption of a zero-based budgeting approach, which ensures that resources are aligned with government’s priorities and allocated efficiently.’ Looking back on that statement of the President compared with realities on the ground, what’s your thought?
Going forward, a total departure in budget preparation from the past must be entrenched. Other types of budgeting can be considered. These include, apart from the zero-based budget, priority-based or programme-based budgeting and activity-based budgeting.
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By Wole Oyebade
Following the hue and cry over demolition of the popular Owonifari Electronic Market loop at Oshodi, the Lagos State government has said that the market had to go following its security threats to residents of the state.
State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, at an inter ministerial chat with reporters on Thursday, said that the demolition exercise on Tuesday and Wednesday actually confirmed some of their fears, “as we discovered concrete bunker and arms underneath the shops.”
The government said though the matter of relocation had been on for about 10 years, recent intelligence report and criminal activities around Oshodi during the festive season, informed the drastic action of the state government. Read full on Guardian
