Citizens Wealth Platform (CWP) a civil society organisation has presented its recommendations on line items considered to be “frivolous, inappropriate, unclear and wasteful estimates in the 2016 Federal Appropriation Bill,” to members of the National Assembly.
From its estimates, the NASS will be saving the country N688 billion from wasteful line items.
The items identified, which were captured under the State House Budget include allowances for motor vehicles, computers, welfare packages, software, uniforms and clothing, refreshment and meals, wildlife conservation, kitchen equipment, annual routine maintenance of the villa, and residential rent among others.
According to a statement from the group, budgeting on the items has been recurrent on a yearly basis. On purchase of motor vehicles, it noted that it was a “common request across many MDAs. How do we determine genuine from frivolous requests? Should NASS demand an inventory of existing vehicles? There is need for justification before every approval.”
It also condemned the decision to patronise foreign auto manufacturers especially “coming at a time of dwindling national resources and the operationalisation of the National Automobile Policy. NASS needs to have a clause in the budget to ensure the mainstreaming of local content in budgetary procurement. This will not only spur local economic activities; the companies will pay a higher CIT if they make more profits, put Nigerians in jobs, whilst at the same time, those employed will pay personal income tax – a win-win scenario.”
The group therefore, urged the lawmakers to replace requests for foreign vehicles with “locally produced cars from Peugeot and Innoson Motors etc.”
The requests presented by every ministry departments and agency for the purchase of computers, software, refreshment and meals, and uniforms and clothing were also pencilled for scrutiny. The demands have become a ritual of the MDAs, according to CWP; hence the NASS should of necessity review the requests only on the basis of proven need and in line with the mandates of the agencies, the body said.
Importantly, investigations should be carried out on the lifespan of the proposed laptops or desktops to ensure they are not repeated every fiscal year, it added.
The group expressed incredulity on the amount quoted for maintenance of office buildings and residential quarters, noting that they were “sometimes higher than what would have been paid as rent for such buildings and enough to construct a modest building.” The NASS, it urged, should review them downwards.
There were items such as budget preparation, which according to CWP should not be listed in the budget and therefore does not deserve a vote. The items, it explained, forms part of the core functions of every MDA.
Furthermore, the National Assembly urgently has to strictly enforce the monetisation law, in order to forestall demands like residential rent being included in the budget. CWP argued that it was unlikely that anyone should enjoy the monetised package and still be demanding the same services to be paid out of the budget.
The disparities in the estimates presented by different MDAs may highlight the absence of updated price database that “should be used by MDAs in preparing the annual budget estimates. The National Assembly should mandate the Bureau of Public Procurement to ensure an update to any existing database. A good number of requests were based on excessive prices.”
PWC recommended that “monies freed from the wasteful expenditure should be re-channeled to developmental capital expenditure. The Budget Office of the Federation needs to be moved to prepare MDA specific templates for budget preparation rather than the current omnibus, where everyone asks for the same line items whether needed or not.”
FRANK ELEANYA
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