THE 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigbria, as amended, imposed on the people by military juntas preceding
the ongoing democracy made general election a quadrennial event similar to that
of the United States of America, and specifically pegs inauguration of
governments on May 29 every four years too. Incidentally, it prearranged appropriation
bill or budget after the civil year calendar; reckoned from January 1 to
December 31 according to Gregorian calendar. By this conflicting arrangement,
the federal and state governments present budgets to their respective
legislative bodies at the end of every year for passage.
By synchronizing the
civil year pattern rather than the nation’s or respective democratic calendar, most
incoming administrations may continuously encounter crisis in the first year in
office with usual laments of empty-treasury against outgoing administrations as
witnessed over times, on account of continuum in government. This notion imperatively
accounts for the strict reliance on independent financial-year calendar by financial
and other corporate bodies for operations distinctive from civil year merely observed
for record purposes.
Emphatically, any government that is
scheduled to round off its tenure in May 29 has no business with appropriation
bill for the residual periods of the year. A well-structured government should
logically, correspondingly run its calendar alongside year’s budget from inauguration
date and not necessarily adopting a civil calendar except if fittingly
inaugurated in January. Apparently, this is a mismatch which over the years has
frustrated new governments from starting strong after inauguration. The endless
wailings by newly-inaugurated governments over empty-treasuries and consequently,
patching up till the passage of another year’s budget, patriotically calls for
sober reflection.
At the moment, the only government expediently
albeit uncalculatingly designed to possibly escape the constitutional abnormally
is the government of Anambra state on account that by its present democratic template,
perhaps providentially, a new administration or democratic calendar begins in
February. Thus, a new governor controls the budget from day one unlike many others
alongside the federal government where outgoing incumbents get a full year appropriation
bill despite few months left to sign out. Then, where the incumbent too ran but
lost out, the rest will be history. The weird blow has always produced unchanged
consequence; squandermania. Possibly, this accounted for President Muhammadu Buhari’s
dirge on assumption of office over empty-treasury and couldn’t appoint
ministers till end of that year. Ditto on some state governors. The arrangement
unknowingly, buoy up re-contesting and outgoing governments operate profligately,
diverting and writing-off allocations earmarked for new administration’s capital
votes munificently than Father Christmas.
The remedy is simple. Appropriation
bill should synchronically run as financial year based on respective inauguration
dates as a substitute to civil year calendar. With the variation, no elected leader
could trespass to allocation earmarked for incoming administration, be it at
state or federal level. As long as May 29 remains the nation’s democratic
calendar whilst appropriation bill runs in a civil year, it will continuously lead
to catastrophe. The gaffe has depressingly affected both incoming governments from
opposition and ruling parties but usually covered-up under ‘party-affairs’
especially where outgoing government contributed to the election victory of the
incoming one. Incidentally, the helpless society at large suffers it in the
long run.
Undeniably, any scenario where an
administration secures a year’s appropriation bill but plunders it in its
remaining five months, incidentally the fifth month of the whole year will
certainly not augur well but put the incoming government in a tight corner in
the remaining months except, to bank on supplementary budgets, that’s if the treasury
is not in red. The political system should provide a template with realistic protective
mechanism to public funds. To conclude, it is absurd and incompatible for a
government to run a civil year against the democratic calendar. The political
system had better adopt protective strategies than remedial approaches which
impede developments and service delivery. As the legal regime is characterized
by sundry lacunas and inconsistencies that make prosecution of corruption cases
cumbersome, preventive mechanisms remain the pragmatic options in checkmating
the shortfalls.
Umegboro, a public
affairs analyst writes from Lagos, and reachable through umegborocarl@gmail.com
or 07057101974 (SMS only)
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