The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), recently rated as one of the best in Africa is at risk of not being able to do its job of gathering and providing data, which usually shows the direction and performance of various sectors of Africa’s largest economy.
This was made known to BusinessDay when it asked a source from the agency if a scheduled Labour force statistics report in its calendar was going to be released yesterday, June 5th 2018 as planned.
The source said the NBS was not be able to release the report as intended due to the unapproved 2018 budget which has delayed the disbursement of funds, and as such without the needed resources, they are not able to go on the field to gather primary data.
“We do not have any approved budget and hence no funding. Work cannot start till we have funds. It is fieldwork not numbers manufactured in the office so nothing can be done till capital releases are made,” a source from the agency who preferred to stay anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter told BusinessDay.
BusinessDay confirmed that the scheduled report as at the close of office hours yesterday, was not published, which is unlike the culture of the agency, as it usually publishes its report as planned and even makes announcements a day before the released on its social media platform.
“Delayed budget affects everyone and that is not good for the country and the economy, as this has a broader effect on the people, as delay in salary payment extends to the slowdown in purchasing power,” Ayo Akinwumi, Head of Research at FSDH Merchant Bank said.
The credibility of the NBS as the only statistics gathering agency funded by the Nigeria government gave it acknowledgement by several bodies and organisation.
It was awarded the Best Public Institution in Nigeria by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in 2016, the Best Public Sector website for the year 2016 and 2017 and among others.
The source however said the agency turns out some report on credit because they do not cost too much. “Like we have been doing, some report we turn out on credit till budget are released because they do not cost much, like employment but others are bigger,” the source said.
On when they will start rolling out reports, the anonymous source said as soon as they get capital following budget approvals they will be able to do others that they cannot carry out on credit.
The inside source disclosed that the issue was not peculiar to the agency alone but also to all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) in the country.
“Till budget is passed nobody can do their work,” the source concluded. The Federal government frequent distortion of the budgetary cycle, is telling badly on the nation developmental process, hindering key infrastructural growth and productivity in the country.
The budget cycle refers to the life of a budget from its formulation, through its legislative approval to its execution and evaluation. Unfortunately, scarcely has the budget implementation at the federal level commenced officially in January of any fiscal year except in 2001, 2007, 2009 and in 2013.
Rather, as it has always done in the past, the government extends the timeline of the budget from December to Q1 of the next year. Analysis by BusinessDay therefore showed that Nigeria budget cycle has only been completed four times in 19 years.
“From what I heard, the presidency is trying to go through the budget following the 6 percent increase which was signed by the senate, to enable him check if the budget is implementable,” Akinwumi of FSDH said.
Six months after President Muhammadu Buhari presented a draft copy of the proposed 2018 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on November 7 last year estimated at N8.612 trillion; the senate on the 15th of May increased the budget proposal by 6 percent to N9.12 trillion.
“The two arms of government that processes budget passage would have to be working together harmoniously to enable the quick passage of budget which will help spur economic growth,” Akinwumi concluded.
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