Economist backs Buhari on 2016 appropriation bill

An economist, Dr Godwin Obaseki, said on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold assent to the 2016 appropriation bill until the details were scrutinised was a financially sound decision.

Obaseki, the Chairman of the Economic and Strategic Team of the Edo Government, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin that the president’s decision was in order.

“Having advised Edo State in the last seven years, I am aware of what predicament the president is in.

“I must say that the president`s decision is the best because people forget that to budget is to govern,” he said.

According to Obaseki, the budget is the instrument that enables a policy maker or an executive to undertake all policies.

“It’s an appropriation law which should in effect itemise what you expect to earn in this area and in that area based on estimates,” he said.

The chairman also said that the budget serves as a guide on what the states want to spend based on goals and objectives.

“ That is the principle of budgeting.

“So, when you don’t give such document the seriousness it deserves by not accompanying it with details, anybody can just put in anything into it and expect to take it out the other way as it has been the PDP culture.

“For the first time, Buhari is saying let`s agree on what we are truly going to earn and what to spend it on,” he said.

Buhari, he said, had made a promise on what to do and all MDAs must align with his goals and objectives.

“ It is therefore the president’s determination and desire to effect the change policy that has put him in a dilemma.

“So many phantoms instruments may have been created in the budget and he does not want to be trapped,’’ he said.

The Guardian