Gov. Ayade is Right On The Budget Of Kinetic Crystallization By Nche Bikwe

To be candid, I agree with Governor Benedict Ayade on the 1.306trillion Naira, executive bill tagged "Budget of Kinetic Crystallization" which was presented to the Cross River State House of Assembly (CRHA) on the 30th November, 2017.

Do not forget that the Budget is just a proposal of the administration's intended expenditures and expected revenue for the 2018 fiscal year that the governor handed to the CRHA to make inputs by adding or subtracting before passage and subsequent signing into law.

So why the hullabaloo, has the governor contravene any extant law? No. The Nigerian constitution in Section 121(1) says "the governor shall cause to be prepared and laid before the House of Assembly at anytime before the commencement of each financial year estimates of the revenue and expenditures of the State for the next following financial year."

The sad thing I see here is that, since inception of the Ayade administration, the state budgets has remained secret document. I remember when I was studying for a post graduate degree in Health Planning and Management, we did a course on public finance and part of the requirements for the course is for each student to analyze the budget of any institution of choice.

I chosed Edo state budget. I wrote a letter to the Clerk of the Edo State House of Assembly(EDHA), requesting for a copy of the current State budget. In three days time, I got a call from the EDHA asking me to come for it, that I was going to be responsible for the cost of photocopying, which I agreed and the copy of the budget was handed to me. Yes it was as simple as that.

In Cross River state, budget documents are no where to be found, we only read about it from statements written by the governor aids. Anyway, during the presentation, the governor said the budget earmarked about thirty percent for recurrent expenditures which amounts to over three hundred billion naira. This in a way is questionable.

The governor further said that, seventy percent was allocated for capital projects to accommodate for his signature projects (the super highway and deep sea port) amongst others. Yes, this is what we have always asked for that, government should spend more on capital projects than on recurrent expenditures to engender real development.

Initially, like others I was bothered about how the administration was going to go about funding the budget, not until an aid wrote that they were looking towards partnership funds and foreign direct investment to finance the budget.

Though one still wonders how over two years in power, an administration that has not gotten a billion US dollar through partnership and counterpart funding would get about three billion USD for the 2018 budget? It seems like fantasy. But again, I am yet to read about any financial principle that says  counterpart, donor or federal allocation cannot fund budget; funding is funding, same way as loans.

On the percentage of implementation this administration previous budgets? One can't tell because it is shrouded in secrecy. But with the level of deterioration of physical infrastructures, where even half a kilometer of road has not being constructed in the entire state, and the owing of most agencies and local government workers, I doubt if previous budgets implementation is anything to take home.

However, that should not stop the government from projecting high in its financial plans for 2018. They should not only "dream big," they should also work more harder to turn the dreams to reality. The nddc has agreed to help in the construction of the road to the Sea Port, Gov. Ayade should see to the dredging, and also build the super highway.

All we as citizens need to do is to demand from our members in CRHA to ensure that, education and health gets its fair share. They should think outside the box, expunge means that will further bring more debt burden on us for financing the budget. As it stands now the state owes hundreds of billions both domestic and foreign debts and we cannot afford more debts at this point.