The Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki today inaugurated a strategic Committee to Reform the Budget Process in Nigeria.
At a very brief ceremony, Dr. Bukola charged the Committee to carefully study and develop strategies and legislative frameworks that would regulate and enhance the effectiveness of public financial management in the country. The Senate President decried the quality of Public Financial management (PFM), particularly, the management of annual budget, Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and development plans which, he said, have been marred by high level of inefficiency, ineffectiveness and lack of transparency.
“Over the years, the National Assembly and the Executive have expressed frustration and dissatisfaction with the outcome of our budgets. Nigerians are equally unimpressed by the outcome and implementation of the budget, as most have come with more conflicts than results. Following the last Budget exercise in line with Legislative agenda, early this year, we directed to review and improve the process”. “It is a notorious fact that our annual budgets are yet to be fully aligned with our development goals; from conceptualization, approval and implementation of our annual budget, there is need to converge our budgeting to National Planning, continuity, efficiency. Hence, the need to revisit the process”, he noted.
While describing the initiative as a concerted effort by the National Assembly to find lasting solutions to the inadequate regulations and procedures for checking inefficiency in the Budget process, he assured that the 8th National Assembly will implement budget reforms that would help open the budget process to greater scrutiny and openness.
The inauguration of the Committee is coming on the heels of the development challenges that have bedeviled the country for long and the harsh economic realities facing the country at the moment.
Earlier in her presentation of the 9-member Technical Committee to the Senate President for formal inauguration, the Director General, National Institute for Legislative Studies and Chairperson of the Technical Committee, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, noted that it is imperative to initiate the process of introducing reforms through legislation in the budget process, adding that reform of existing legislation such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Legislative Compliance Act would be attempted in line with key resolutions in a strategy paper to be developed by the Technical Committee. She added that a Draft Budget Reform Bill would be presented to the Peer Review Committee comprising four Distinguished Senators and an Honorable Member of the House of Representatives.
In his remark, the Chairman of the Budget Process Review Committee, Sen. Ali Ndume observed that the inclusion of the Minister of National Planning will greatly enhance improved legislative-Executive relationship, particularly as it would forestall the hiccups and pitfalls that usually attend the passage of appropriation Bills. He promised that his committee would collaborate with the three arms of government and work assiduously to ensure that the citizens get the best out of this budget reform.
The Budget Process Review Committee is made up of Sen. Ali Ndume-Chairman (Senate Leader), Sen Mohammed Danjuma Goje (Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation), Sen. Baba Kaka Garba (Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business), Hon. Orker Jev. Emmanuel (Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business) and Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma (Minister of National Planning).
While the Technical Committee which is expected to provide technical assistance to the Sen. Ndume-led committee includes the Director General NILS, as Chair Person and Director General, Budget Office Mr. Ben. Nwabueze , a Professor of Economics, Prof Mike Obadan, other members of the academia and experts, drawn from both Chambers of the National Assembly and NILS. The Committee has two months to submit its report to the Senate President.
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