Buhari: Time To Act

.Mr. President Can Invoke Section 82 of  I999 Constitution To Implement Budget Partly, Writes FRED IGWILO

BUHARI

The present state of the nation has suddenly fueled concern from Nigerians on the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari. 

The president and his All Progressive Congress, APC led Federal Government have faced scathing criticisms from the Nigerian populace over the delay in signing the 2016 Budget which has been approved by the National Assembly.

Buhari had said in Washington DC that he will not sign the Budget because the National Assembly failed to transmit its details to him.

 He said “I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, Ministry by Ministry; to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission”.

With the first quarter of the year 2016 gone, Nigerians have been persistent in lamenting over biting hardship and suffering as a result of the delay in implementing the Budget.

The Presidency has insisted that the non implementation  of the Budget is not the fault of the President, arguing that those who feel strongly over the delay  should know where to point their fingers to. 

The National Assembly had claimed that errors and padding in the budget made it difficult for lawmakers to pass the budget early enough.

As the executive and the legislature wallow in the blame game, the economic condition of the nation has become worrisome and has continued to inflict hardship on poor Nigerians. This therefore calls for urgent action on the part of the President and the APC who have a greater burden to fulfill their numerous campaign promises.

It is clear that Nigerians can no longer endure the suffering in the land. With biting fuel scarcity, non-payment of workers’ salaries in some States, dilapidated infrastructure, crumbling businesses, irregular power supply, high exchange rate, soaring inflation, President Buhari cannot afford to deplete the goodwill that trailed the coming of the All Progressive Congress to power on May 29, 2015.

He is advised to take advantage of section 82 of the 1999 Constitution which empowers him to incur interim expenses from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to carry on the administration of government of the federation for not more than six months or until the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act.

The section reads “If the Appropriation Bill in respect of any financial year has not been passed into law by the beginning of the financial year, the President may authorize the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government of the Federation for a period not exceeding six months until the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act, which is the earlier”

The section further states “Provided that the withdrawals in respect of any such period shall not exceed the amount authorized to be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation under the provisions of the Appropriation Act passed by the National Assembly for the corresponding period in the immediately preceding financial year, being an amount proportionate to the total amount so authorized for the immediately preceding financial year  

This provision in the Constitution implies that the amount that would be spent in the current year may not exceed the amount approved in the preceding budget. This provides a legal foundation for Mr. President to implement his Budget partly which is the backbone of his new economic policies to revive the ailing the economy and save Nigerians from agony and economic trauma.

With clear signals that the National Assembly, especially the senate, does not have a friendly disposition towards the Executive, the Executive is advised to be one step ahead by doing the needful to end the misery of Nigerians.

Now that the second quarter of the year has started, this administration should note that excuses are no substitute for non performance. Failure is also not an option. Nigerians craved for Change and Change they should get. 

IGWILO WRITES FROM CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES.