By Giwa SHILE
BudgIT, a civic organisation on fiscal analyses and matters of public spending, has admonished the National Assembly (NASS) to promptly pass the 2019 elections budget proposal to avoid hasty preparations for the polls.
The Head of Research, BudgIT, Mr Atiku Samuel, said in Abuja that NASS must move fast to deliberate on the elections budget.
Samuel said what INEC needed the funds for was time bound and the elections were fast approaching, caution was needed to avoid a rush.
He said it came as a shock that the executive arm of government did not make earlier budgetary provisions for the 2019 general elections.
Samuel recalled that the organisation raised the issue in November 2017 when the 2018 budget was presented to NASS.
“This confirms our fears that policies, planning and strategies of government are not evidence-based.
“If the executive can ignore and exclude the biggest political event that will take place in Nigeria from its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and budgetary outlay, imagine where we are heading.
“Historically, the executive always made provision for elections logistics support. In the 2003 budget, it was done, also in 2006, 2010 and 2014, but I wonder why not in 2018.’’
According to Atiku, it is expected that the amount the Federal Government is requesting for the election will probably be borrowed.
“I recall that the Federal Government revenue was only N2.7 trillion in 2017and we do not think revenue will grow significantly above that and salaries of government workers are in the region of two trillion naira.
“The cost of servicing debt is expected to top N2.2 trillion, meaning that the fund INEC is asking for will most likely be borrowed.’’
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had on July 11, requested the Senate’s approval of N242.45 billion for INEC to enable it commence preparations for the 2019 general elections.
Part of the funds, according to the president’s request, would also be given to the Department of State Service (DSS) and other security agencies for the same purpose.
The letter indicated that Buhari requested that out of the needed amount, N164.10 billion should be provided through virement or supplementation of the 2018 Budget.
Buhari had also said implementing a budget of N9.12 trillion for 2018 would be extremely challenging and so did not consider it expedient to propose further increase to the 2018 expenditure framework to fund the request.
TBI Africa also reports that though NASS commenced its annual recess on July 24 to resume on Sept. 25, there were strong indications that it would reconvene to deliberate and possibly pass the proposed election budget.
