The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Financial Reporting Council, (FRC) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), are some of the critical agencies that could be risking zero budget for 2018 for failing to submit their audited accounts to relevant authorities as required by law.
The Senate has given a May deadline to 208 federal commissions, agencies, corporations and parastatals yet to submit the report of their audited accounts to the Auditor General for the Federation for two years and above to do so or have their 2018 budgets not approved.
The defaulting agencies were listed in the report of the Senate Public Accounts Committee on the Status of Compliance of Parastatals’ Submission of Audited Accounts to the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, seen by BusinessDay.
In the report, the panel noted that this was in contravention of Section 85 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which mandates federal agencies to submit their audited reports to the Auditor General for onward transmission to the National Assembly.
The report observed that many parastatals were unwilling to submit their audited accounts without being compelled and further expressed
concerns that some parastatals do not take accountability of public expenditure seriously.
Chaired by Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo State), the committee conducted its inquiry between September 2015 and December 2017.
Some of the other affected agencies include: National Insurance Commission, Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Bank of Industry (BoI), Bank of Agriculture (BoA), FCT Internal Revenue Service and FCT Universal Basic Education Board.
Others are:, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Nigerian National Sovereign Fund Authority, Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority,
Engineering Material Development Institute, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Abuja.
Also on the list are: Nigeria Commodity Exchange, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), National Pension Commission, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory
Agency (PPPRA), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), National Board for Community Bank, National Centre for Peace and Disease Control, National Iron Ore Mining Company among others.
Although the Urhoghide-led committee recommended that defaulting parastatals be compelled to submit audited accounts before the end of March 2018, lawmakers extended the deadline to May 2018.
Analysts say the development raises a lot of questions about transparency and accountability in the running of the affected
agencies.
Iyke Onyekachi, a political observer, pointed out that the inability of parastatals to take accountability in public expenditure seriously encourages corruption.
“Fight against corruption is one of the cardinal programmes of the Buhari administration. It is sad that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is supposed to be at the forefront of the present administration’s anti-corruption crusade, is among parastatals that are yet to submit its report since inception.
“Also worrisome is the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is supposed to receive audited accounts of political parties in
line with the 2010 Electoral Act. It is yet to submit its audited accounts between 2011 and 2016.
”It speaks volume of an agency whose duty is to oversee other political parties yet violate an extant law that mandates it to submit
its audited accounts to the Auditor General. All these cast serious doubts on the sincerity of the government in fighting corruption,” he
said.
There are also indications that the May deadline given by the upper legislative chamber for defaulting agencies is a strong signal that
the N8.612 trillion 2018 budget estimates may not be passed anytime soon.
Aside from the lingering face-off between the Executive and Legislature, both Senate and House of Representatives have continued to blame heads of ministries, departments and agencies for failing to honour the invitations of various standing committees responsible for appropriation.
Analysts have warned that the delay in passing the 2018 budget could undermine the effective implementation of the 2017-2020 Economic
Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
Uche Uwaleke, Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, said that the delay could hinder implementation of
projects critical to economic diversification.
According to him, the 2018 budget was developed in line with the Federal Government’s ERGP designed to make the economy more
diversified.
He pointed out that the delay rubbishes budget assumptions and renders unrealistic, targets such as the 3.5 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast.
“This development does not augur well for the stock market, as share prices of firms in the agriculture sector, industrial goods sector and
construction sector will be worst hit,” Uwaleke said.
He pointed out that the delay can also adversely affect timely payment of contractors and increase the amount of non-performing loans in banks which will negatively affect their share values.
“If the delay drags on for too long, it can heighten uncertainty in the market. It has the potential to scare away foreign investors whose presence is being felt now due to the current investors’ confidence in the country’s economy following recovery in crude oil prices,” Uwaleke
said.
Worried over the delays in the passage of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday directed all heads of
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to quickly defend their budget submissions before the relevant committees of the National
Assembly. Meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly in Abuja, as part
of efforts to tackle issues of unhealthy Executive/ Legislature relationships, which had slowed down the implementation of government
policies in a crucial pre election year, the president had given the directive as part of efforts to break the budget deadlock which has
delayed the passage of the 2018 budget.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, while speaking after the meeting, however, listed the 2018 budget as top on the agenda for the law
makers.
Saraki who assured that the legislature was working on the budget, lamented however that “some agencies were yet to defend their budget. We are hoping that with the renewed urgency now, they will come and defend
their budget,” he said.
But in an interview with BusinessDay, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, could not confirm when
the 2018 budget would be approved.
“The budget process is on and I cannot tell you this is the specific day it is going to end. But all I can say is that we are working very hard on it. And we want to assure Nigerians that at the end of the
day, we will have a budget that will serve the purpose of Nigerians,” he stated.
On his part, Ibrahim Babangida, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Finance, expressed the willingness of the lower
legislative chamber to pass the 2018 budget in record time.
“What do you want us to do, when the ministers fail to appear before us? But they are inclined to rush to meetings initiated by Development Partners overseas, leaving their primary assignments in the country.
”For us, nobody is benefiting anything from delaying the budget from being passed,” Babangida told BusinessDay.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA & OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
