On vacations, acting president and a disastrous budget

The past week at the Presidency was characterised by an eerie ambience of indifference and trepidation. Indifference, to the presence of an acting President Yemi Osibanjo and anxiety from a feeling of deja vu.

Typical of when the president is out of town, the Villa was quiet as always only this time, there was an acting Sheriff in town. Firstly, being in an acting capacity does not mean the Vice President had to move into the President’s office. But in the event that there are serious decisions to be taken, he can step in and act for the President.

For me, the acting President Osinbajo was not presented with any serious situation which required him to step in and be decisive.

Besides, he only acted in that capacity for six days. But the duration of working in the acting
position didn’t deter Vice President Osinbajo in his usual early-bird manner; he had resumed work on day one of acting as president. He got to the office at about 9am and started with a meeting with the Economic Management Team.

An x-ray of the Vice President’s typical day would show he is some kind of a workaholic, resuming sometimes at 8 am and working till about 11pm. Reporters have come to describe a typical day at the Vice President’s office as filled with private meetings. These private meetings usually range from briefings by the different planning bodies involved in the Federal Government’s proposed social investment programmes, as well as organisations seeking to collaborate with
government in one way or the other. Don’t forget, the Vice President is in charge of the economy.

As a reporter, I was expecting to see the Vice-President or Acting President at the time, preside over a meeting with the security chiefs (which usually holds on some Tuesdays) and the customary Federal Executive Council which now holds on Wednesdays.

The council meeting has not held for the past two weeks, it was shelved again because the President was not around, but there was an Acting President. I think it could have been for lack of anything to discuss since the principal was away.

Feeling the pulse of staff of the Aso Rock, even Nigerians, trepidation was palpable. A vacation by President Muhammadu Buhari, just after eight months in office raised concerns. Some speculated he was going for a medical round while it was clear that after flying back and forth for so long, our 73-year-old President needed to take a break. I can relate with that.

Around the Villa, you could feel the silent prayers of staff that his vacation should not turn out to be a repeat of the late President Musa Yar’adua episode (may his soul rest in peace). Nigeria cannot afford another journey down that line. Am sure you know the story.

I must salute the President’s action of writing to the National Assembly both prior and after his vacation.

Enough said about that, our President is back, refreshed and with a seeming renewed love for his erstwhile friends, the press.

After the visit of the German President, Joachim Guck, our own President Buhari actually waved to journalists, acknowledging greetings of ‘welcome back Sir’. “Lady and Gentlemen of the press” he
called out (acknowledging the only lady in their midst). It leaves one wondering what miracle a well-deserved rest could actually do.

Over to one of the pressing Nigerian issues on ground. There is no doubt right now that one of the most used name or dialled numbers, from the Presidency, is that of the minister of budget and national planning. It caught my attention that he is at the Presidential Villa every other day.

Ever since the budget ‘disaster’ which has continued to embarrass the government, Udoma Udoma’s face has been the most frequent to the corridors of power. Udoma is always seen with a file and looking like he’s still doing some calculations. Udoma is a lawyer by profession, former senator and has sat as chairman of the board of the UAC and the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.

He is now the face of the 2016 change and jobs budget! The man is not smiling at all. No one would like to be in the eye of the storm now.

While the President is being critiqued for the sloppy way the budget was prepared, Udoma is seen as the main fall guy (just like Ita Enang took the fall for changing the budget).
There are some unanswered questions trailing the now controversial budget. Questions like who is responsible for all the mistakes and padding or secret injections into the budget, to the extent that
ministers now deny their budget? Were the ministers not allowed to go through a final copy of their proposals, which may have been prepared by the Permanent Secretaries, possibly without their inputs?

This may actually have been the case considering that they came into office when the preparation of the document was already underway. For instance, the Minister of health, Isaac Adewole, who during his budget defence at the National Assembly denied his ministry’s budget. He claimed the original budget of his ministry had been doctored. The minister even joked about rats infesting the budget and injecting some unknown items. In these days of Lassa fever, this is not funny. Well, he decided to abandon the possibly Lassa infested ministry budget and return with a clean copy.

“We have to look into the details of the budget and re-submit it to the committee,” Adewole had said, adding that “This was not what we submitted. We’ll submit another one. We don’t want anything foreign to creep into that budget. What we submitted is not there.”
How did we even get here? From borrowing the hallowed budget document after it was presented by the President, returning it and now finding some ghost projects have appeared in some pages. Sounds like a typical Nollywood movie script.

Forgive me for saying, some ministers cut the picture of learning on the job (I did not mention any names). The whole scenario paints the picture of a trial and error venture.

For integrity’s sake, it is important that the President sanction’s the ghosts or rats, sorry officials or budget mafia (as the presidency called them) who padded the budget.

On other light matters. Did you know our Nigerian flag is sourced from China? Have you also noticed that some of our ministers and Senators who are supposed to be galvanising support for made-in-Nigeria products still dress in foreign-made-suits?

Well, I learnt that the flags hoisted at the Presidential Villa are being sourced from China because we have no machines to produce them (seamlessly). It costs about N50,000 to produce one (please don’t tell the President I told you so).
While the government is working at refurbishing the textile industry in Nigeria and stabilising its foreign exchange, won’t you agree that our public office holders should start by patronising our African-made fabrics as well as made-in-Nigeria suits, and Nigerian wears? More like walking the talk.
You cannot be preaching the use of made in Nigeria goods while wearing Italian suits and eating imported rice. Am just saying…

 

Elizabeth Archibong