Auditor-general explains how 2016 budget was drafted

Samuel Ukura, the auditor general of the federation (AGF), says the much-applauded zero-budgeting system was not used for the 2016 budget, adding that the envelope system used under previous administrations was adopted.

The AGF said it planned to use the zero-budgeting system, only to abandon it along the line.

Speaking before the senate committee on public accounts, Ukura said the federal government was forced to return to the envelope budgeting system used by previous governments.

“The budgets of all ministries, departments and agencies of government this year are all enveloped-based and not zero-based, as has been the case over the years,” he said.

He said the office of the auditor general, “which was even largely done for us by the supervising ministry (budget and national planning ministry)”, used the envelope system.

“This year’s budget is enveloped-based and not zero-based in anyway; it is the envelope system. The zero-based budgeting they wanted to introduce was not adhered to at the end of the day.”

This is against the insistence of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President that the budget was zero-based.

Ukura went on to explain the strengths of the zero-budgeting system, saying: “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 and at the end of it, the result you are going to get out of it.

“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 introduced.

“Under zero-based budgeting, a budget proposal and by extension, defence, is not about fighting but discussing what is made available for one to work with, because what they want, they give.”