Budget-padding: Conmen as lawmakers? Outrage over fraudulent legislators

The hurling of allegations and counter allegations by the principal officers in the House of Representatives over what has come to be known in the Nigerian parlance as “budget-padding” may have exposed the level of unfaithfulness of those elected to make laws for the country.

For over two weeks now, Nigerians have watched in awe as their representatives at the lower chamber of the National Assembly argue back and forth over who did what in the thieving allegation swirling around the legislative house.

Analysts say that if padding of budget is criminal, then conmen may have been “making laws” for the country since 1999 as the practice is said to be as old as democracy in the country, particularly since the return of civil rule in 1999, and especially in the last six years.

Abdulmumin Jibrin, whose sack as chairman of the House of Representatives on Appropriation, set off the crisis in the house, disclosed that padding, or what he chose to describe as “insertion” had been part and parcel of budget process in Nigeria, noting though that the degree varies.

“Every year, there has always been that (insertions) and if you can recall properly, in the five years that I have spent in the National Assembly, there is a key issue that create a bit of tension between the National Assembly and executive arm of government. Essentially, one is the size of the budget and second is the quantity of the insertions; new items from the National Assembly. This issue always causes friction between both arms of government. It was the case in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and of course 2016. The only difference is the insertions in 2016. I saw a lot of insertions in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 and in 2016, it went completely off the board,” Jibrin said.

BDSUNDAY gathered that the crisis started with N40 billion allegedly set aside for the 10 principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives, while the balance of N60 billion will be shared among the 109 Senators and 360 House members for the implementation of the Zonal Intervention Projects.

From the N40 billion, the 10 principal officers of both chambers are to share N10 billion. According to the document showed that the sum of N3 billion is for the Speaker; N2.5 billion for the Deputy Speaker; N1.8 billion the House Leader and Chief Whip got N1.8 billion each; N1.5 billion for Deputy House Leader and Deputy Chief Whip each; N1.4 billion for Minority Leader and Minority Whip each; while N1.3 billion for Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip each.

It was also gathered that the balance of N2.5 billion was distributed to the Chairman and members of Appropriation Committee as well as some key lawmakers.

Jibrin was also accused by his colleagues of allocating project worth N4.3 billion for the Film Village in Kano State.

In a sudden twist of events, Jibrin linked 10 chairmen of standing Committees in another round of N284 billion financial scandal which they allegedly inserted into the budget without the knowledge of members of their respective Committees.

When asked in a recent interview why he did not raise alarm to the humongous insertions, the legislator said it was in the National Assembly “you are made to believe that when you are chairman of finance, you have to live and die with certain information. If you are chairman of Appropriation, you are practically a custodian of secret and there are lots of things that you should not say or you must not open up on. I have actually lived with that kind of mentality in the last five years within the National Assembly system.”

Reacting to the allegations over the huge financial impropriety, the Transparency Group in the House, called on the Speaker to step down to pave way for thorough and unfettered investigation. This aligns with the position canvassed by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) as well as Civil Society and Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

However, a coalition of Media and Civil Society groups called Africa Media Roundtable Initiative advised Jibrin and other aggrieved lawmakers that rather than take the matter to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), they should proceed to the Court of law.

Ladi Hamalai, director general of National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS), who spoke at a workshop on the “Budget reform in the National Assembly and National Assembly and the Appropriation process,” noted that the issue of the legality of constituency and zonal intervention projects has not been tested against the Constitution in Nigeria, as obtainable in other climes such as Philippines, Kenya, Jamaica and India.

She however, noted that “in many parliaments, Appropriation Committees concede significant projects to leadership of parliaments by virtue of their position,” adding that “Constituency projects are considered legitimate and pass through the due process of open budgeting channels and the details (including name, location and of these projects) are accessible to the public in the Appropriation Act.”

According to her, the processing and award of contract for execution of the project is squarely the responsibility of the Executive branch and that lawmakers can recommend ‘qualified’ contractors to MDAs for execution of the projects.

Hamalai, who decried the alleged budget-padding, argued that “it is evidently illegal and fraudulent meant to serve the interest of few highly placed Government officials,” stressing that it is a bit a ‘misnomer’ to refer to the National Assembly’s engagement with the budget as ‘padding’ where such refers to artificial “inflation” of a proposed budget.

To avoid a recurrence, the NILS Chief, who noted that the economic development challenges that have bedeviled the country may be partly related to the quality of public financial management (PFM), emphasised the need to urgently “initiate the process of introducing reforms through legislations, in the budget process.”

Ayuba Wabba, president, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in a statement obtained by BDSUNDAY, admitted that “the ongoing controversy over the padding of the 2016 budget is an incontrovertible evidence of the inherent weaknesses in our budgeting process and accordingly underscores the need for a thorough revisit. It also reveals the imperfections and the distrust in project identification/implementation system and consequent failure of the present model of capital budgeting without a development plan framework.

“It shows that projects are not implemented according to needs -value or priority- but who is behind which. In light of the foregoing, we wish to state that instead of going after individuals, government should do a soul-search as well as x-ray a budgeting system that fails to address the needs of the people.”

He however, cautioned “against the use of the present development to settle political scores or unduly weaken the National Assembly,” stressing that a strong National Assembly is a necessity for a vibrant democracy.

While reacting to the crisis, Myson Nejo, Abuja-based lawyer who frowned at the abuses allegedly perpetrated by the lawmakers in the course of budget consideration, however, expressed displeasure on the undue interference of the Department of State Security (DSS) as the handler of the investigation.

“My considered opinion on budget padding is very simple. ‘Pad’ simply means where something was done in wrong way. I think Nigerians should thank God for exposing the National Assembly at this crucial time. The issue of padding had been in existence long ago. It is pertinent to note that the only duty of the legislators is to make laws not to prepare budget. Padding came into budget when legislators claimed they are adding an item or subtracting it.

“It is the duty of police to look into such issues not DSS but you know in Nigeria everybody does whatever they want because the government is insincere to fight corruption. There are lots of problems in this country. DSS believes it’s superior to police likewise police to DSS. I think for this country to move forward, there must be a good relationship between the Executive and Legislature,” Nejo told our Correspondent.

Oluseun Onigbinde, co-founder, BudgIT told BDSUNDAY that when the budget padding allegation against leadership of the National Assembly first came up, he dismissed it as unnecessary because the Constitutions and other extant laws allow the legislature to amend the budget.

“I know the extent is still subject to a judicial pronouncement but this is a well-accepted fact in ensuring separation of powers. Padding as we are learning has to do with the legislative heads changing the budget after it has been passed into law by the National Assembly. This is done before it is transmitted to the President. This is unbelievable and also a fraudulent act. I have also learnt that laws are padded. This means when a law is passed by the legislature at the final reading, people still make changes to suit their purposes. It is very unfortunate.  National Assembly continues to erode its trust and perception with these dishonest acts.

Lamenting that the entire process for the 2016 budget has been a mess, Nigeria engaging three Budget-Office DGs in one year, the padding having started at the Executive level, he said it is now obvious the President and his team who prepared and signed the final copy did a shoddy job.

“This is a government that campaigned on change. The party itself has not enforced high standards and this is a big disappointment. Nigerians will have a chance to choose again and citizens will have to decide if this is change. The way it works there is that after FEC approval and Budget Office sign-offs, people still tinker with the line items. They are smart enough to leave to the total as the same but the details are different. The Executive led by the President on the 2016 Budget did a shoddy job. It points to structural issues in the budget. There are no defined standards or pricing of budget line items neither does each item align to the central philosophy of the government. People are allowed to add anything in the name of capital projects. A lot of people have advocated for programme-based budgeting and I support that. The problem regarding this is the capacity at the Ministries. The 2017 Budget process has started and I hope this time is different,” he said.

According to him, members of the NASS do not understand their democratic role as the highest organ of accountability and that their own budget of N115 billion is tucked in opacity.

 He said: “From its leaders alleged to have forged rules to the alleged false declaration of assets, the 8th National Assembly has not made Nigerians proud at all. It is very unfortunate and this is why the quality of representation there now matters more. This will also ensure we pay more attention to elections into the legislature. The quality of persons with recent issues is so awful. Just look at the allegations and media war between Jibrin and Dogara, how do you expect state institutions to respect you? How do you expect an equal arm of government – the Executive – to respect you?

“My message is to the law enforcement agencies. I believe budget padding is fraud and needs to be checked. Changing the line items of the budget after approval by the committees and plenary is just dishonest. I also have a message for President Buhari. He needs to support open contracting and adopt a meticulous approach on the release of funds for projects.

“The government has scaled down its capital project implementation with the introduction of the Strategic Implementation Plan which outlines the focus areas. The biggest threat is the revenue gap, not padding. You will recollect the SGF told the lawmakers not to expect the implementation of constituency projects. With revenue run rate currently at 55percent as at June and oil price in a slump – below $40 -, we are in a larger crisis to be able to even pay salaries and meet debt obligations”.

In proffering lasting solution to the lingering budgetary crisis, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, chairman House Committee on Public Petitions, blamed the crisis on the absence of the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) under the purview of the National Assembly.

Nkem-Abonta (PDP Abia), during a chat with BDSUNDAY, explained that fully functional Budget Office staffed by professionals as consultants would have provided the much needed guidance in the budget process and establish a smooth line of communication between the Legislature and the Executive, where most of the problem areas now manifesting, especially on padding or no padding would have been smoothened out.

While describing the issue as a misnomer, the lawmaker argued that the primary function of House members is to tinker with the budget estimates in such a manner that would reflect the aspirations of the citizenry whom the National Assembly represents.