AGAINST the backdrop of pressure on the presidency by the National Assembly, over the poor implementation of the 2012 budget, inadequate capacity of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and adherence to due process have been identified as factors responsible for the situation.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, who said this in a chat with newsmen in Abuja, on Wednesday, said the apparent friction between the presidency and the lawmakers over the budget implementation was unnecessary, as both arms of government were working to better the lives of the people.He said beyond the lack of capacity to deal with issues concerning the budget at once, there were laid down procedures backed by National Assembly legislation, which could not be bypassed.According to him, 'there are issues in the MDAs as well as capacity building and due process, which are backed by existing laws made by the National Assembly. For example, before a ministry can award a contract, the law specifies that there must be an announcement for about 12 weeks or so.'Also, there are processes that have been put in place that cannot be short-changed. And in many of the projects, you have to do feasibility studies, drawings, even before they go for tender. So, there is the issue of capacity building, which I believe the government is attending to.'Noting that the present misunderstanding between the two branches of government was unhealthy, the presidential aide expressed the belief that the lawmakers were driven by their passion to ensure the substantial execution of projects as a way to accelerate the nation's development.Dr Okupe said that the Federal Government meant well, as demonstrated by the recent policy of President Goodluck Jonathan to take briefings from two ministers per week on the progress of implementation of their budgets, with the most recent ones being the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Lands, Housing and Urban Development.The presidential aide further noted that though the 2012 budget was signed into law mid-April, about N400 billion had already been released to MDAs, adding that the demand by the lawmakers for the releases to be made at the due quarter was problematic, because of the negative implications on the economy.'What is true is that there is no department or ministry in Nigeria today that is unable to perform because it lacks fund. Virtually all of them still have substantial funds stacked in their accounts in their capital budget account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),' he said.While reiterating that it was impossible to achieve a 100 per cent budget implementation, Dr Okupe said with the present rate of implementation of the budget, it would achieve, at least, 80 per cent by the end of the year.While commending the National Assembly for the impetus it was generating for the budget implementation, Dr Okupe was confident that their desire would be met by the end of the year, as a substantial part of the budget would have been implemented.
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