THE BOTTOM-UP APPROCH OF GOVERNMENT BUDGETING WILL BE MOST IDEAL TO ELIMINATE PADDING!

ZION B-BC   NEWSLETTER.  

(Looking at Nigeria's Political System from a godly Perspective).

A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 6. NO 184. 19th February, 2017.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You   Free! (John.8:32).

THE BOTTOM-UP APPROCH OF GOVERNMENT BUDGETING WILL BE MOST IDEAL TO ELIMINATE PADDING!

No Nigerian national budget had been fully executed, one hundred percent,  and without "padding", since the new adventure into political independence and democratic dispensation from 1999; and the reason is not far-fetched  because the "cart was always positioned before the horse - monopoly of the politicians needs over the grassroots more urgent socio-economic demands which should always be prioritized! To date, only one annual budget within the past 17 years was executed up to about 70% and was not without much frauds and flaws through paddings by virtually all greedy stakeholders among the two tiers, the Executive and the Legislature! The Legislators had promised dividends of democracy to the majority grassroot electorate and through desperation to continuously represent them in Parliament, would be willing to "rob banks" to fulfil such vows; forgetting that Contracts Awards and execution were the exclusive constitutional preserve of the Executive. And in view of such dilemma, they have resorted to what is now popularly described as "execution of CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS" through budget paddings!

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), whose statutory mandate as custodian of the nation's official statistics and co-ordinator of the national statistical system, was quick to alert Nigerians in 2014 of an impending economic recession based on economic data at their disposal in respect of the dwindling international prices of crude oil which stood out to be Nigeria's live wire mono-product, but the failed PDP Administration did not listen! Instead, they plundered the nation's coffers veraciously with much venom and the ripples effects of their dastard acts are manifest in large recoveries of looted and embezzled monies by their vicious members across board! Through its Consumer Price Index (CPI), window, NBS revealed in January 2017 the inflation trend, which was over 18%, on Transport fare, Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel), National Household Kerosene, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas), Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), which had been persistent because of the collapse of the GDP in two consecutive quarters of 2016, which it had earlier predicted! How had the NBS been able to predict accurately over the years process of development by providing data to assist and encourage informed decision through research and discussions within government and the community by leading a high quality, objective and responsible and responsive national statistical system? The answer is not far-fetched because the agency improvised A BOTTOM-UP APPROACH to collect data in respect of consumer price index from the grassroot. This method involved the skills of Economists, Statisticians, Computer Scientists, Data Collectors/Analysts etc, including 10,534 Informants engaged on monthly basis across Nigeria to regularly price 740 goods and services, for accurate and professional data compilation, according to the information on its official website.

NBS is a government agency and it has no reason to "cry wolf" where non existed, and in spite of the nonchalant attitude of past administrations to its statistical predictions, they have all come true because they are well organized. The national and state budgets must henceforth follow the same pattern of the bottom-up aproach which would ensure compulsory and sincere participation by all stakeholders from the Ward level and which would ensure the anticipated and perfect result acceptable to all Nigerians. This system will in no way conflict with the Constitutional provisions in Sections 81 (1) (2) Authorisation of expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but will only ensure, transparency, sincerity, accountability, probity and equity by the President and the Executive Arm, since annual budgeting exercise of successive administrations in Nigeria had always been shrouded in secrecy and exclusiveness like the clandestine activities of secret cults whereas, outside of the Nigerian Constitution, the Federal Budget is the other very important document that legalizes the bond of financial association of a nation in diversity and compels government to fulfil its socio-economic contracts and obligations regularly to the citizenry.

The annual Federal Budget of the presidential system of government in Nigeria takes pre-eminence over similar documents of the federating units and any time it was delayed in any given year, for any given reason, an unprecedented shadow of economic stalemate and paralysis is cast on all businesses, contracts, constructions, manufacturing etc, of the usual hustle and bustle in the market place! At such periods, businessmen/market women hoard their wares and delay to purchase new merchandise in anticipation of the announcement of the almighty Federal Budget estimates by the President in order to take advantage of new policies on imports/exports, tariffs that would lead to advantage or disadvantage as the case might be!

Definitely, that should not be the scenario! The people, without whom there would neither have been a government nor an economic budget in the first instance, should not have been kept in the dark at any stage of the preparation by the Executive and its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).  The submission and scrutinization by the Legislature, who always "padded" the document to boost their financial ego before these grassroot citizens who informed the economic figures put together in the document should also have their imputes, because they are the Human Capital Resources for the budget formulation!  Whether it is Federal or State Budget the document remains the annual ritual of financial appropriation of monies into various areas of the peoples' social needs like housing, agriculture, health, education, industry infrastructures, defence/security, mining, manufacturing etc. for the purposes of establishing good governance, predicated on peace and tranquillity in the various societies. For instance the 2017 Budget submitted to the National Assembly (NASS), on 19th December, 2016,by President Muhammadu Buhari, like others before it was majorly a government document, midwife by technocrats, the civil servants in the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the legislators and some stake holders who made some imputes during the Committee Meeting stages, without contributions from, "We The People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria", highlighted on the very first page of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution, 1999! There are only 469 handfuls of Legislators representing the entire population of over 180 million citizens of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), who were completely ostracised from the preparation and execution of such an important document that regulates their day-to-day social and financial activities!

Could This Be The Major Reason Why Past Budgets Were Never Fully Implemented?
Budgeting serves as the platform from which Man can aggregate his incomes and plan his expenditure in a manner that would ensure adequate sufficiency of funds to meet his needs regularly for specific periods of time at the family level. This method of financial discipline is by extension, what obtains also in public/private institutions and governments all over the world through formulation of annual budgets to cater for the diverse and constant needs of the masses of people. In the case of government institutions, this financial statement of estimates which include recurrent revenue in the form of people’s annual taxes, and other internally-generated revenues from income-generating MDAs, would also constitute the advance package for each year apart from revenues from the natural resources of oil, gas, minerals and mining!

Why Would The Grassroot Artisans Be Sidelined In Annual Budget Preparation?
The farmers, fishermen, miners, petroleum workers, construction workers, motor drivers, market women and traders in general, the Okada/Keke-Napep (motor-cycle/tri-cycle riders), who are domicile in both the rural and urban areas of all Local Government Areas and States of the Federation, constitute the back-bone of the workforce of the Nigerian economy and should therefore be THE STARTING POINT OF THE FORMULATION OF ANY NATIONAL BUDGET AND NOT THE PRESIDENCY OR EXECUTIVE ARM OF GOVERNMENT!

HOW NATIONAL BUDGETS SHOULD HENCEFORTH BE FOMULATED AND EXECUTED.
THE COMPILATION OF PRIOTIZED INFRASTRUCTURES LIKE HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS, PORTABLE WATER THROUGH A PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM OR BORE HOLES MOTORABLE ROADS ETC, SHOULD BEGIN FROM THE WARDS THROUGH TO LOCAL/STATE GOVERNMENTS, TO THE EXECUTIVE & THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (NASS) . The bottom-up approach method that would ensure 100% execution since the entire project would be a collective effort of the population of Nigerians - and dividends of democracy would be distributed evenly according to NEEDS and not according to the whim and caprice of a disillusioned representative whose main pre-occupation was to shortage his/her constituency by pocketing illegal "CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS ALLOCATIONS"

URGENT STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO REVERSE THE INFLATION TREND OF THREE CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS!
The Presidential Task Force set up by the Acting President, Professor 'Yemi Osinbajo, to reverse the current food stuffs price inflationary trend has reported back to identify that high cost of transportation, multiple taxation, extortion by security personnel at check points, exorbitant cost of fertilizers etc were some of the actual causes of the trend. Outside of we believe that a major remote cause was people-induced because the only way for the grassroot majority traders to ventilate their anger for being sidelined and marginalized, was through introduction of CUT-THROAT prices of commodities and services to fellow Nigerians and as we had suggested in the past, those obstacles should be quickly addressed and the PRICE CONTROL BOARD should be swiftly put in place to alleviate the suffering of the poor masses.

Why Would Budget Implementation, Execution And Monitoring Constitute An Albatross To Government?
Past administrations did not learn that economic budgeting should begin with grassroot contributors who knew exactly their social priority needs because of the antecedent administrative/traditional structure of many centuries bequeathed to them through which they had worked in unity and taken collective decisions.  It is however gratifying that the Presidency has taken necessary action to ensure that the 2017, when it had gone through the circle of vetting, scrutiny and approval by NASS would be fully implemented to erase flaws of the past. The ball is in the court of the NASS and we strongly belief that the honourable representatives would conclude all joint Committee sittings and move the nation to higher pedestal of successful economic buoyancy through undelayed execution of all capital projects that would improve the economic conditions of the down-trodden. Amen.  For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? (1 Corithians.9:9).

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to:  facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch.

Please look forward to divine revelations in  The Sure Word Gospel Tracts, Our divinely inspired books on the Amazon KINDLE Store Namely: The Unbroken Chain of Grace, Nigeria’s Pot Pourri (Volumes 1-5), Godly Politicking For World Peace,  and The Wedding Mascot Died. 

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390.  08080243066   g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com