Budget transparency in the era of change

When Hadiza Bala Usman was appointed the managing director at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in July 2016, I read a number of news reports in which she promised to reform the way things are done at the agency. As the regulator and landlord of ports, NPA badly needed reform. For decades, its operations had been shrouded in secrecy. Considered a cash cow, the Authority had been perennially milked by all and sundry. Any promise of reform at all would easily resonate with those of us in the maritime business.

 

That is why some of us think something positive and different is happening at NPA. It’s a fundamental shift from how agencies and departments of government in Nigeria have conducted their operations in the country so far; however, it appears no one is yet talking about it.

 

I am speaking of the signing in Lagos of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NPA and the BudgIT Information Technology Network. As reported by NAN, the partnership is aimed at developing an open budget system platform and the implementation of a public data dissemination programme which, if implemented to the letter, will go a long way in promoting transparency and accountability at the agency.

 

The NPA is no doubt a major cash cow for the country. For over 60 years, it has been since it was established as a continuous public corporation by the Ports Act of 1954. Over the last five years, Nigerian ports have seen a gross tonnage of over 140 million. In 2015 alone, Nigeria generated N184 billion from the ports. And despite our country’s economic recession, an annual growth rate of 2 percent is expected in the next five years.

 

But the truth which most stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime industry know, and would readily admit, is that the NPA can deliver much more for Nigeria. More income can be generated from Nigeria’s 24 port terminal than have so far been generated for the country, a fact which the NPA itself even admits.

Unfortunately, it is the opacity which surrounds the way government business is run in Nigeria, as well as how generated revenues are spent in government institutions like the NPA, which continues to ensure that corruption, bare-faced corruption, festers in the system. The good news with the NPA/BudgIT partnership, however, is that things are set to change for the better at our ports.

 

Signing the MoU at its Marina head office in Lagos, the managing director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, noted that the partnership became necessary for the development of an open budget system platform and implementation of a public data dissemination programme. The partnership, according to her, will provide Nigerians all the necessary information during implementation of the NPA’s budget and would help it to deliver on its mandate and create more wealth for the country.

 

The NPA boss also made it clear that the MoU would ensure that critical data are generated and made accessible for policymakers, stakeholders in the maritime industry, members of the private sector, the media and the general public. All these, Usman added, were aside the fact that it would help the organisation block loopholes that encourage revenue leakages.

 

“Since the ascension of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the government has set out to change how our governance systems run and instill a new culture of integrity, transparency and accountability in public administration. Our institutions have been poorly managed and we are all guilty. Today, we are out to walk our talk and depart from the morally flexible and opaque practices of past administrations by moving towards information democratization, budgeting transparency and open governance,” Usman remarked at the ceremony to the applause of those in attendance.

 

While commending the NPA for being the first revenue-generating government agency in Nigeria to make its budget public, Oluseun Onigbinde, lead partner at BudgIT, also noted that the collaboration, apart from promoting probity, transparency and accountability, would help restore government and public confidence in the NPA management.

 

There’s surely no disputing this fact. Onigbinde’s BudgIT, an NGO founded in 2011, is a pioneer in the field of social advocacy fused with technology. The organisation has been using an array of technology tools to simplify public budgets and matters of public spending for citizens with the primary aim of raising the standard of transparency and accountability in government to facilitate societal change.

 

Meanwhile, key stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime industry, the media and the Nigerian public would be watching and waiting with expectations to see whether the MoU would be faithfully implemented or not.

 

However, aside all the aforementioned, I believe the MoU would unquestionably assist NPA as a critical organ in the economic artery of the nation in delivering its mandate, creating more wealth for the country, ensuring transparency in public expenditure, instilling a framework for transparent budget provisions for the authority, and promoting an effective and efficient management of all its terminals across the country.

 

Another good point about the MoU which must not be missed is that it would significantly encourage participatory governance by way of feedback from key stakeholders. In essence, the NPA would be able to communicate more effectively with the public, aside the fact that an enabling environment that will greatly help attract the much-needed foreign investment into the country would have been created.

 

Looking back, again, to a few months ago when Usman was appointed by President Buhari, the “activist in public service” had vowed, immediately on assuming office, to flush out corruption from the authority and that anything short of world-class services would not be welcomed at Nigerian port. It’s very gratifying to note that she is making efforts to fulfil her promise. I think in some way, the change Nigerians eagerly want to see in President Buhari’s government is unfolding in bits and pieces.

 

Without any iota of doubt, the NPA has shown an inspiring example which other revenue-generating agencies of government like the CBN, NIMASA, NCC, NITDA, NIPOST, among others, must follow. I believe now is the time for them to also make their budgets and revenues open to the public. This would be a right step in the right direction towards promoting budget transparency like the NPA, under Usman’s leadership, is so impressively doing.

 

Ayodele Patrick