Friday, March 29, 2024

Budget: Former CBN boss calls for review of constitution

A former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has called on the Federal Government to review the country’s constitution, to state clearly the functions of the executive and legislature in the budgeting process.

He said, “We have serious problem with the budget because the constitutional framework for the budget has been quite defective.

“The Constitution of 1999 gives almost unlimited powers to the National Assembly to design and rewrite entirely the budget. That is why we have the problem of budget padding that has bedeviled the budgetary process.”

The former banker explained that the duty of the National Assembly is not to rewrite the budget but to assent or appropriate it like all civilised democracies. “They can also reduce but in a situation where the National Assembly increases the budget, then it should be looked into. We need to review the constitution to be very clear with regard to what needs to be done in the budgetary process,’’ he added.

He said that the delay in the passage of the budget had hindered smooth implementation of the projects that would have eased the sufferings of Nigerians.

“The budgeting system is one of those things that have perplexed me considerably, because for many years now, we have not gotten it right. We have never succeeded in starting the budget in January of the New Year in which the budget is committed; this goes back to the military era.”

Mailafia also expressed dissatisfaction with the manner some government agencies quote projects in dollars, saying, “it is illegal to do so.’’

“If we use other countries’ currencies, it means we don’t value our currency and the value will go down. I want a situation where we restore the honour and dignity of the naira as our proud tender currency and as a symbol of the honour of our country,’’ he said.

Mailafia added, saying “any country that ‘dollarises’ its economy becomes a banana republic, that is of no value or dignity. “We need to build a great economy for a country that has honour and dignity in the comity of nations. We should also strengthen the naira, give it value; the monetary authority should give it respect to gain the trust of the people of this country,” he urged.

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