The
Minister of Information and Culture has said that the total for every
ministry has remained exactly the same as what was submitted to the
National Assembly, thereby insisting that the controversial 2016 Budget
was not padded.
Lai Mohammed
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Saturday, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, insist that the 2016 budget was
not padded because the total figure voted for all ministries had not
exceeded N6.08 trillion which was the official sum proposed by the
government.
He said: "The total for every ministry has remained exactly the
same as what was submitted to the National Assembly. A lot has been
said about the budget. Let make clear that nobody can ever accuse this
government of padding any budget.
"The total of all ministries put together has not exceeded
N6.08 trillion that was submitted. It is factually incorrect to say that
the budget was padded. This is the first time in the history of this
country that a government will embark on what is called zero-based
budget.
"Before now, the budget system was what was called an envelope
system. In an envelope system, there is no justification as to why we
need N30 billion for a structure. This year, we decide that every
ministry must have a zero-based budget. In other word, you must justify
and explain why you need N100 billion.
"This is very good system, the software for it was also very
different. The personnel were not used to it. Now, in the process we got
to National Assembly. What the ministers do is to have a broad overview
of the budget. The template used by the Budget Office is uniform for
all ministers."
Lai Mohammed also said exports, balance of trade, Gross Domestic
Product were responsible for currency appreciation and depreciation.
"Before now we use to sell crude for about 100 dollar per
barrel which means if we produce two million barrels per day, you have
something in the region of 200 million dollar less the expenditure of
production and others.
"But today for the same two million barrels, you have less than
60 million dollar less the cost of production. Clearly if your major
source of exchange is crude and it has gone down from 100 per cent, you
have lost 70 per cent of your source.
"Secondly, if your balance of trade is surplus, in other word,
if you export more than you import, then you are going to have less
money to settle other countries. What the government is doing is to
ensure that the little resources we have are properly managed. Part of
decision we took was Treasury Single Account.
