Date: 2017-03-18

Every year, in accordance with Nigeria's constitution, the executive arm approaches the legislative organ on what it intends to spend for the 12 calendar months. As obtainable in other climes, the Kwara State House of Assembly last week passed the 2017 budget of over N160billion by raising it with N25billion as against N135billion presented by the Governor. AHMED 'LATEEF, takes a look at the processes, which led to the legislative approval of the budget.

Across the world, the legislative arm is seen as an institution in which democratic governance revolves around. It is an organ entrusted with principal responsibility of enacting law on issues affecting the general well being of the people. Little wonder, it is revered as bastion of democracy in some quarters.

Beside making laws, another major task through which the legislative work is carried out is watch-dogging the executive arm both in action and inaction, thereby curtailing possible excesses and executive rascality.

Being a body constitutionally constituted, the legislature is also conferred with powers to either approve or decline any proposal forwarded to it by the executive. Instances abound in Nigeria whereby the executive arm will moot and forward a bill on one hand while the legislature will turn down such legal framework on another hand.

Such development usually raises suspicion among political pundits and observers alike of likely cat and mouse relationship between the two organs of government. In democracy, three organs of the legislature, executive and judiciary play key role in sustenance or otherwise of the government widely acclaimed to be government of the people, by the people and for the people, apologies to Abraham Lincoln.

In Nigeria today, something that cannot be wished away is the influence of the legislature in the existence and governance in a democratic setting. By constitution, it is the only organ that represents the interest of the voting populace on issues that are germane to the welfare and continuous existence of the country.

For the discerning minds, it is impossible and next to nothing to run government centred around democratic structures without legislative organ. Running such system amounts to nullity in the eye of scholars and pundits on current affairs.

On the appointment of would be beneficiaries into key positions that passes through legislative processes, the executive arm becomes the appointing authority while the law-making organ turns approving arm. It is therefore not surprising that in recent times, the legislative has had to decline approval of nominees made by the executive on the ground of some knotty issues or discrepancies that cannot be turned blind eye on in the wake of public scrutiny.

This alone explains some powers vested in the legislature as an independent organ of government, and this perhaps also accounts for why it is referred to as "the first arm of government" ignorantly ceded to the executive.

However, among other activities that define the role of the legislature, the most crucial of them is the power to appropriate funds on yearly basis otherwise known as annual budget. Although some emergency funds are also approved by the law-making organ frequently subject to the request by the executive arm.

The existence of government is thus elusive without appropriating funds from time to time to run the government for the common good of the people. It is believed that the sustenance and success of government largely depends on money voted for it in the annual fiscal document.

Beyond the shore of Nigeria where democracy is also on the wheel, there is no way the executive will perform in terms of finances without recourse to the legislative arm, that is constitutionally vested with powers to do and undo when it comes budgetary provision. Anywhere in the world, it amounts to ultra vire for any government to go on spending spree devoid of legislative approval.

Just like in Nigeria, spending beyond what the legislature approved, is tantamount to impeachment. It is considered as a serious infraction that should not be allowed to slip by without being meted with prescribed sanctions.

Owing to the importance of budget in governmental activities, it is usually seen as oil that lubricates the wheel of governance. Only through budget is government at all levels including States, able to determine what to earmark for what purpose and how to spend it.

What obtains in the national scene also plays out in States. Like other States, Kwara is not new to budget or fund appropriation every year, prepared by the executive and routed through the legislature to become a law.

As expected by law, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed late December last year tabled a total sum of N135,264,529,461 before the House as appropriation bill known as budget for the 2017 fiscal year.

The Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad, who subjected the bill to first and second readings on the floor of the House during the legislative proceedings, committed it to the standing committee on Finance and Appropriation chaired by Mashood Olanrewaju Bakare of Omupo Constituency of Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.

It was shortly after that various committees of the House summoned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for appearance in the hallowed chamber to defend and justify the amount of money allotted to each of them in the fiscal document.

The appearance of the top government officials and those who prepared the budget of the MDAs afforded both the House and the affected MDAs the opportunity to ascertain areas of shortfalls and in others where excesses were either deliberately or erroneously made.

In one of the budget defence of the House Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources presided over by Ishak Aliyu Adams, it was discovered that a paltry sum of N133million was appropriated for agriculture in the budget, prompting the committee to raise an eyebrow that such budgetary provision negated the current drive to diversify the economy to agriculture and other viable sectors of the economy.

The committee was of the opinion that the vote set aside for the sector was grossly inadequate and abysmally low.

In order to accommodate fresh provisions, the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources was asked to represent its budget, which will enable it procure about 20 tractors for farmers and payment of counterpart funding for Agricultural Development Projects and Fadama lll in the fiscal year.

The legislature, through the powers vested in it on appropriation of funds, jerked up the budgetary provision for agriculture from N133million to over N6billion.

In the same vein, the House increased the money appropriated for education with huge sum. This, the hallowed chamber, believed, would allow the government to deliver on its promises to the people without hindrance.

Similarly, the House also earmarked funds for the construction of alternative route from Agbabiaka to Amoyo with a view to de-congesting the perennial traffic gridlock around Amoyo/Ganmo/Offa-Garage, a suburb of Ilorin. This came after members reacted to the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, which considered at the Committee of Supply.

With the budgetary re-allocation and amendment made on the fiscal document submitted by the state Governor, few other sectors also got legislative nod, where it also increased the initial money voted for them.

The House, after thorough and exhaustive legislative firework, last week Tuesday passed the 2017 budget by raising it to N160,900,388,017 as against over N135billion presented by the Governor.

In his speech after the passage, the Speaker explained that the Recurrent Expenditure stood at N70, 758, 967, 750, which represented 44 % while Capital Expenditure was put at N90, 141, 420, 267, which showed 56 % of the Budget size.

Ahmad said the House jerked up the budget size above the figure tabled by the Governor in order to expedite action on some ongoing projects in the state.

He added that the legislative also resolved to shore up the budget estimates by increasing the funds allocated to some sectors, just as it also appropriated funds to certain sectors that were not captured in the earlier proposal.

The Speaker pointed that the House set aside about 56 percent of the budget size for capital expenditure through which infrastructural projects will be equally distributed across the three senatorial districts.

He said only few states in the country were courageous enough to devote such huge amount of money in the fiscal year to capital expenditure.

On likely insinuation that the legislature might have padded the budget with new insertions, the Speaker said there was no basis for such allegation when the legislative arm performs its primary function of appropriating or scrutinizing a budget submitted to it by the executive arm.

"What we have just done is increase the total budget size by adding N25.6billion or 18.9% over and above the figure submitted by the Executive. To those who are not legislatively literate, they may pejoratively refer to this constitutional exercise as padding. But not majority of Kwarans have been well briefed and enlightened", he declared.

Ahmad went further, "Today is another important day in the history of this state as this Honourable House passes into law the 2017 Budget whose total size is N160,900,388,017 as against the N135,264,529,461 which is an increase of N25,635,858,556 or 18.95 %. This is made up of Recurrent Expenditure of N70, 758, 967, 750 which is 44 % of the Budget and a total of Capital Expenditure of N90, 141, 420, 267 which is 56 % of the Budget size.

"Well executed, a N90billion or 56 % Capital Expenditure outlay of projects and programmes, evenly spread across the three senatorial districts of this state, wll certainly have great impact on the lives of the citizens. Not many states in the federation are committing such huge percentage of their resources for capital expenditure.

"The expected capital projects include much needed road networks, developing satellite campuses of Abubakar Sola Saraki University, commissioning of International Vocational Centre, Ajase-Ipo, up-scaling and subsidizing the community health insurance scheme, energizing of transformers and purchase of new ones, construction and renovation of classrooms, construction of staff secretariat, assisting those interested in commercialization of agriculture, the Geri-Alimi Underpass and several others.

"The Recurrent Revenue, estimated to be available to the state this year is N94,958,620,208 while capital receipt is estimated to be N65,941,767,809 giving us a sum of N160,900,388,017 as total estimated income for the year.

"What we have just done is increase the total budget size by adding N25.6billion or 18.9% over and above the figure submitted by the Executive. To those who are not legislatively literate, they may pejoratively refer to this constitutional exercise as padding. But not majority of Kwarans have been well briefed and enlightened.

"What is padding, when this House increase the budget of Agriculture sector from N561.141million (or 0.4% of the budget) to N6.818billion or 4.24% of the total budget, which is relatively closer to the 10% recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organization Maputo Declaration 2004 for Sub-Saharan African Countries (compared to N89.684million in 2016).

"There was no padding, we were just doing our duty, when we increased the budget of the education sector, including bursaries and scholarships for students of Kwara State origin, from N29.936billion to N32.752billion or 20.36% of the budget, which makes it closer to the 24% recommended by UNICEF for developing countries. The health sector came in well from the Executive and we only jacked it up a little to stand at N26.402billion or 16.4% of the budget, surpassing the African Union Abuja Declaration 2001 recommendation of 15%.

"Padding was never in our mind when we reduced the budget of the Kwara State House of Assembly by N146.746million. The only area this House was helpless because of limitation of funds was the water supply sector where the provision of N2.726billion or 1.69% (from N1.724 or 1.3%) of the Budget is far less than the United Nations recommendation of 10%.

"The aim and objective of any development plan like this Budget is to achieve such an improved welfare condition and raise the standard of living for its citizens. That is the "Shared Prosperity" with which this State has been identified", Ahmad said.

However, imbued with readiness to tenaciously implement the budget as passed by the legislature, Governor Ahmed in Ilorin, on Wednesday, assented to this year's appropriation bill of over N160billion.

In attendance at the signing of the document, which took place at Government House, Ilorin were the Principal Officers of the state Assembly led by the Speaker.

With the assent on the fiscal document, all eyes are now on the promise by the Governor that his government intends to hit the ground running right away.