A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR AN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION REGIME

Written by Solomon Akpeli

INTRODUCTION 

Nigeria may be the giant of Africa but is currently being dwarfed by many African nations. The main reason is attributable to its reliance on otherwise unreliable resources. It is understood by observers that, the Nigerian public service space is full of incompetence and at best, powered by retention memories.

This paper -though an abridged version; intend to discuss the main issues and attempt to proffer simple solutions that when applied, will yield the much desired results.

The paper is subdivided into Four Parts;

CONSTITUTIONALITY 

Nigeria operates a Presidential Constitution. The President appoint his Ministers and/ then forward their names to the Senate for Confirmation. Note that, the appointment process is a presidential ONLY responsibility. The Senate ought not to, and should NOT be involved in anyway, shape, form or phantom.

 

ADMINISTRATION 

The Federal Government is the Leadership tier of government. It is expected to provide standards and standardization of governance parameters and tolerance levels. But, at the moment, it is both negligent and slumbering.

Usually, the Chief Accounting Officers of the Federal Ministries are the Permanent Secretaries who are ought to be chosen from the Administrative Cadre. They start life of service as Administrative Officers and grow to pinnacle - Permanent Secretaries.

While the rest members of the Civil Service belong to the Executive Cadre and grow to their pinnacle - Directors. But, this structure have been neglected, resulting in having Permanent Secretaries that are not trained for the job - the major reason why the Administrative shortfall in service delivery.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Federal Government. All correspondence should pass through him before getting to the President.

The job of the Chief of Staff is to manage the diary of the President and take care of the detailed Administrative compliance.

The job of the Senior Special Assistant (Media) is to speak on behalf of the President. While, the Special Adviser (Media) is to assess the implications of the government's perception by the public and advise a more favorable engagement. The Senior Special Assistant (Public Affairs) is to interface with the public with a view to correctly understanding the true state of affairs of the citizens and bring challenges to the attention of the President/Government in order to appropriately handle.

In other words, in line with the Principle of Separation of Powers and Check and Balances; the President appoint, the Senate confirm. For instance, the President appoint a "Tom Dick" as a Minister, the Senate is now expected to confirm that, indeed this "Tom Dick" is a Minister of the Federal Government and not any other. The Senate don't have the latitude to reject.

The fact that the Senate is NOT a HR department of the Presidency can not be overemphasized. Therefore, should NOT be screening Ministerial Nominees. In fact, Ministers should ONLY go to the Senate after Swearing-in for confirmation - the existing model is "putting the cart before the horse"

BUDGETING 

This is another Constitutional issue. The Federal Government make budget Proposals and the National Assembly appropriate. The National Assembly can NOT counter propose and appropriate at the same time. Their adjustment of the Federal Government's proposal in anyway is both illegal and unconstitutional.

Secondly, the timing of the budget should be respected. Supplementary Budget Proposals should be dealt with in line with the Constitution.

ENERGY 

The issues of Fuel Pump pricing, Subsidy and other related matters have become so delicate that, it can degenerate into serious conflicts. Now, this is the correct application; the Federal Government have made provisions and allocated 500 barrels of Crude Oil/day for the 4 Local Refineries. All four are not working for some time now. However, the NNPC have elected to be importing Products for local consumption, while selling the allocated barrels.

The NNPC have not been straight with the Federal Government on the proceeds of the sale. Naturally, after selling off the allocated Crude, NNPC should have just financed the importation liabilities from the proceeds but, appears to be getting the Federal Government to bear the costs.

The NNPC have also not been credible with the accountability for the proceeds from Gas

GENERAL 

Implementation of Trade Unions Negotiated Packages is another area of common conflicts. For instance, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Resident Doctors have been notorious.

Observers have identified that, after signing a given Agreement, both the Unions, the Managers of the Universities and Health Facilities on one hand and the Federal Government on the other hand, all go to sleep. The Unions would not follow up to ensure provisions are made.