“2016 Budget Not zero-based” – Auditor- General

The Auditor- General of the Federation, AGF, Samuel Ukura on Thursday, February 18,  faulted the assertion that the 2016 budget is zero-based budgeting.

Ukura specifically contradicted the Presidency on template adopted for details of the N6.08trillion budget estimates.

The AGF noted that the template used for the budget proposal before the National Assembly remained enveloped based budgeting and not zero based as claimed by the Budget and National Planning Office.

Ukura made the clarification when he appeared before Senate Committee on Public Accounts for the budget defence session of his Office in Abuja.

He noted that though the earlier intention of the government was to adopt zero-based budgeting template, realities on the ground later forced it to adopt the usual enveloped based budgeting system.

Ukura said the N2.9billion budget proposal for his office was not arrived at through zero budgeting but handed over to his office as an envelope by the Ministry of Finance.

He said: “Budgets of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government this year are all enveloped based and not zero-based as it has been the case over the years, including that of my office, which is even largely done for us by the supervising ministry.”

Reminded by Senators Akpan Albert Bassey (Akwa Ibom Northeast) and Foster Ogola (Bayelsa West),that his submission on the 2016 budget template ran contrary to what President Muhammadu Buhari told a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22 last year, the AGF insisted that the budget remained envelope based.

He said: “It is envelope. The zero-based budgeting, they wanted to introduce was not adhered to at the end of the day.

“In zero-based budgeting, it is assumed that such expenditure does not exist, you start from zero and justify why that expenditure must be used.

“ So, it is a system which is good and which would have also helped to set targets, but that wasn’t applied at the end of the day, perhaps because it was hurriedly being introduced.

“Budget proposal and by extension, defence, is not about fighting but discussing on what is made available for one to work with because what they want, they give.”