The 2012 budget proposals will now be submitted to the National Assembly next month contrary to a pledge by the Executive of its earlier transfer to the lawmakers in order to facilitate thorough consideration of its provisions.The delay in the submission of the proposals, according to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is because of the wide consultations currently being done by President Goodluck Jonathan with members of the National Assembly and the need to use the right parameters for the budget. The minister made the explanation on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating a committee that would help ensure efficiency at the nations seaports.She said that the ministry was working towards ensuring that the budget proposals got to the lawmakers by next month.The 2012 budget had been a subject of controversy in recent times owing to the inability of the President to get the backing of the National Assembly to remove the budgetary provisions for fuel subsidy.Many of the lawmakers, who had met with the President on the planned removal of subsidy, were said to have opposed the move.While some had said the removal of subsidy would further impoverish Nigerians, others maintained that the Executive had not done enough to convince them to support the policy.But the minister explained that consultations were still ongoing with the National Assembly in order to ensure that the lawmakers were comfortable with all the parameters in the budget.Okonjo-Iweala said, "We are working very hard on the budget and we are working towards having something ready towards the end of the month and beginning of December, work is really ongoing. We have to do a lot of consultations with the National Assembly, and of course, we have to leave room and answer questions, clarify issues and make sure that the National Assembly feels comfortable with the parameters."This is what we are doing right now and give it the time it takes; we do not want to rush the budget if we have not been able to satisfy the National Assembly committee members on the questions they are asking."She said while inaugurating the committee that the reform of the ports was aimed at sanitising the facilities as well as reducing the time of clearing goods.The minister said the mandate of the committee, which will be chaired by Prof. Sylvester Monye, was to decongest the ports and ensure 48-hour clearance of goods.The setting up of the committee followed a report by the Working Group on Ports Decongestion, which stated that Nigerian ports, over the years, had been associated with inefficiency and corruption.This, the report noted, was largely due to poor infrastructure, poor work ethics by all agencies at the port as well as multiplicity of agencies.These agencies, through their daily activities, according to the group, have made business at the ports very unfriendly, leading to delays in the clearance of goods and adding to the cost of importation.But Okonjo-Iweala said, "The event underscores the Federal Governments efforts to make the port reforms work; the commitment to this is very strong. At the private sector retreat we had with Mr. President, this was one of the areas that received the strongest support and commendation from the private sector in order to check the cost of doing business."The committee is being sponsored by both the ministries of Transport and Finance. So, we have a matching order that we must become the best business destination in this country. To become competitive in terms of the use of our ports, we must grow from a situation where it takes three to four weeks to clear to one week. Our ultimate aim in this country is to achieve a 48-hour clearance time, and we must do all that it takes to make this happen."
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