By Fola James
President Muhammadu Buhari has no excuse to delay the implementation of policies and programmes of his administration, policy analysts say.
The National Assembly for the first time since the return to democratic government has now made sure that issue of budget delay will no longer constraint the performance of the federal government.
The assembly has passed the budget in record time, for President Buhari to sign, thus restoring the January – December cycle.
President Buhari is happy, same with many Nigerians who have seriously complained of budget delay by the National Assembly.
“It’s my pleasant duty today , on my 77 birthday to sign the 2020Appropriation Bill into law. I’m pleased that the National Assembly has expediously passed this Bill. Our federal budget is now restored to a January-December cycle,” Buhari said while signing the bill into law.
The worries however, is whether the budget will still be implemented to the fullest, considering that this government has recorded less than 70 per cent implementation since coming to office in 2015.
There are many concerns to this effect.
More so President Buhari has already given an indication that the budget will not be implemented to the letter.
President Buhari, the magazine learnt has demanded from the lawmakers to approve a multi-billion naira virements as one of the conditions to implement the budget to the satisfaction of the National Assembly.
The magazine was informed by some Senators that the Ahmed Lawan-led Senate will not try to rock the boat with the presidency now that the two organs of governments seemed to have fostered peace.
Financial analysts told the magazine the issue of the 2020 budget has been amicably resolved by Presidency and national assembly on the give and take basis.
“For instance, the president has made no issue with a whopping N36 billion request by the National Assembly for the renovation of the Assembly complex,” Bode Agakameh, a policy analyst said.
Apart from this, the lawmakers have also jerked up the budget by over N260 billion from N10.33trn originally contained in the proposal submitted to the Assembly by President Buhari on October 8.
“Going forward, I think what should matter to the lawmakers is the interest of Nigerians. The appropriation bill must be well scrutinized and every naira allocated must be justified by the executive,” the analyst said.
According to the details of the budget obtained by the magazine a large chunks of N2.72 trn has been allocated to servicing both local and foreign debts.
A total of N1.5 billion was allocated for “federal government intervention in Zamfara, Katsina and Borno” while N20 billion was earmarked for “special intervention fund” and another N25 billion for the Nigerian navy’s “Falcon Eye” project aimed at tackling piracy and other criminal activities in waterways.
Also some key highlights of the budget include N46 billion for presidency; N110 billion for National Judicial Council; N111.7 billion for Universal Basic Education; N128 billion for national assembly; N40 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); N38 billion for North East Development Commission; and N80 billion for Niger Delta Development Commission.
Beside, N75 billion was allocated for the fight against Boko Haram and other operations of the armed forces; N65 billion for amnesty programme; N350 billion (recurrent) earmarked for special intervention programme; N20 billion for contributions to international organisations; and N22.7 billion for immunisation.
Some Nigerians who spoke with the magazine said, they are not happy that a huge part of the 2020 budget will be used in servicing debt, such they say could have been used to turn around the infrastructural deficits in sectors such as health, education and public transportation.
