In a shocking twist to controversies surrounding the 2016 budget before the National Assembly, Samuel Ukura, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Thursday informed the Senate that the N6.08trillion budget proposal was prepared using an envelope based framework and not zero-based as President Buhari has persistently said.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts at the budget defence session on Thursday, Ukura told the Senator Andy Uba-led Committee that the zero-based budget was ‘hurriedly introduced’ by the Budget Office, which created some problems, hence it was jettisoned.
The Auditor-General said while the zero-based budget was applied theoretically, in practical terms, the status quo – envelope budgeting – was maintained.
Citing an example, he said the N2.9billion budget estimate of his office in this year’s proposal, was handed over to them as an envelope by the Budget Office.
The Auditor-General was responding to a question by Akpan Bassey (PDP, Akwa-Ibom North East), a member of the Committee, who asked if his office was using zero-based or envelope budgeting.
In his response, Ukura said: “It is envelope. They (Budget Office) wanted to introduce zero-based budgeting. But in the end, zero-based budgeting wasn’t used. They were just asking people to bring evidence…. In zero-based budgeting, it is assumed that such expenditure does not exist, you start from zero and justify why that expenditure must be used, and at the end of it, the result you are going to get out of it.
“So, it is a system which is good and which also helps to set targets. But that wasn’t what was done. This was hurriedly introduced and that is why it is creating problem all over the place”.
When reminded by Senator Foster Ogola (PDP, Bayelsa West), that his submission on the appropriation bill ran contrary to the earlier one made before the joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year, the Auditor-General said: “This year’s budget is envelope and not zero based in anyway”.
In another development, the Federal Government is targeting to raise N250 billion as revenue from the solid mineral sector.
Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, made this known on Thursday, while defending the ministry’s 2016 budget before the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals.
Fayemi said: “What has been lacking in this sector before now is political will on the part of the leadership. Mr President has been very clear that this sector has to live up to its billing. And one of the ways in which we must do that is by becoming an alternative revenue generating vehicle for the country. And we have sat back, we have reviewed the activities of the sector.
“We have met with the critical stakeholders in the sector. We have under-studied what obtains in other countries that have made a success of the sector. I have come to a conclusion that we can raise the revenue profile. And also ensure that we disaggregate.
“There’s a lot that is being generated in the sector right now that is not even identified with the sector that goes direct to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
“Because we are putting a lot more focus on automating the activities of our mining cadestral office, we will be able to also plug the leakages. We have people who take exploration licence and using it as a mining lease; that is illegal. You cannot use an exploration licence as a mining lease.
“We also have a situation in which you have people operating without licence across the board. But if we are able to achieve the kind of synergy that I have talked about between the Federal Government, state governments and the various private sector operators in the sector, we will certainly increase the revenue profile of the sector”.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE
