Unviable states, impractical budgets – a fine brew for failure

It is common knowledge that most of Nigeria’s states are not economically viable, but what is worrisome is that they also have some of the most unrealistic budgets, with scandalous spending patterns that seem to suggest that neither reason nor intellect was employed in its preparation and execution. ISAAC ANYAOGU questions the relevance of these states as they have clearly become a national burden.

A review of the budget proposals of some of Nigeria’s most unviable states suggests a determination to consolidate sub-par performance in 2016. This is worrisome considering that they owe civil servants salaries, have poor investment profiles and are heavily indebted.

All too often, attention is focused on Abuja while state governors and local government chairmen who should have the most impact on citizens run their states like personal fiefdoms, spending scarce resources on reckless endeavours whose only merit is in massaging bloated egos.

According to data released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently, these are the internally generated revenue of Nigeria’s five worst performing states in 2015: Yobe (N2.3billion), Zamfara (N2.7 billion), Ekiti (N3.3billion), Borno (N3.5 billion) and Kebbi (N3.6 billion). These five states combined generated less than 20 percent of what Lagos alone collected as IGR in the same period (N268.2bn).

It is an open secret that some of Nigeria’s state administrators are so incompetent they make ineptitude look bad. In saner climes federating units compete on the basis of their natural resource endowments both human and material and this generates the impetus that power the nation. It would seem that the only competition among Nigeria’s states is in whose idiocy will generate the most national outrage.

While forward looking states are thinking of partnerships where the strength of one can make up for the weakness of the other, a state government wants to regulate preaching. A governor has achieved renown as the national mascot, elevating buffoonery to the status of state policy. This partly accounts for their poor internally generated revenue because brain matter reserved for critical thinking has been expended on theatrics.

It is even worse that their 2016 fiscal plan will not change things. In 2015, Yobe state recorded a paltry N2.3 billion as internally generated revenue but has a budget of N88.9 billion for 2016 fiscal year where it plans to spend 54 percent on recurrent expenditures. The budget is curiously tagged ‘Budget of Consolidation’.

Zamfara State governor Abdulaziz Yari presented a budget of N109.38 billion to the state House of Assembly for the 2016 fiscal year despite generating a paltry N2.7 billion as IGR. The State claims the budget has a special focus on education, agriculture and health and allocates 59 per cent to capital expenditures.

Abubakar Bagudu, Kebbi State governor presented a budget of N107 billion  to the state assembly and budgeted N73 billion for capital expenditure and N34 billion for recurrent expenditure. His priorities are education (N16.4 billion), Agriculture (N12.5 billion) and health (N3.9 billion).

Borno state’s 2016 budget estimate is N155 billion made up of N103 billion capital expenditure and N51 billion recurrent expenditure. Kashim Shettima, Borno state governor,  said the budget will be financed through N93 billion expected Federal allocation and N29 billion internally generated revenue.

This would have been hilarious if this weren’t so cringe-worthy. Borno state collected a measly N3.5 billion as IGR in 2015 and it suffered Boko Haram insurgency that decimated both population and infrastructure. It would seem the plan is built on quicksand.

Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti state government presented a budget of N67bn to the state legislature where 70 percent is devoted to recurrent expenditure. The government plans to fund the budget with federal allocation (N26.5bn), internally generated revenue (N9.8bn), Value Added Tax (N5.8bn) and Capital receipt (N24.8). Ekiti will also award N5,000 to 10,000 people and wants to build an airport.

State governments also fritter away valuable resources on senseless projects like building airports in states where the only industry is the civil service, spending millions of naira on media campaigns when the governor clears a gutter or put his name on a slab of a hencoop.

Millions of naira is also wasted on state sponsorship of religious pilgrimages. In 2015 alone, state governments spent over N70 billion on pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem.

Last year, the Nigerian Hajj Commission announced 76,000 slots allocated to Nigeria by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 2015 Hajj.  Uba Mana, NAHCON media director, said 66,000 slots had been allocated to the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and the Armed Forces. In 2014 Saudi Arabia generated $18.6 billion from pilgrimages, mostly from poor countries like Nigeria whose government fleece its poor to finance a personal religious experience.

“The new generation of politicians have exploited the presidential system to operate a system that is a drain on the treasury. It is hard to believe that we now operate a system where we now have more than 3,000 advisers at the federal, state and local government levels,” laments Emeke Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

He added,“States that have no Internally Generated Revenue have more than 30 advisers, senior special assistants and their assistants. Local government chairman have chiefs of staff, chief protocol officer, press officer and so on. The result is that 30 to 40 per cent of our annual budget is spent on these officers.”

Nigerian state governors have a penchant for vainglory and see modesty as a flaw. In 2015, Rochas Okorocha, Imo state governor, owing pensioners for 21 months erected a 30 feet tall Christmas tree that by some account cost the government N600million. Former governor Kayode Fayemi was busy naming every slab of stone after himself in Ekiti while the voters were perfecting plans to kick him out of office. Willie Obiano of Anambra state wears Ankara fabric with his own face on it.

Understandably, Nigerian states are challenged by shoestring budgets, dearth of human and material resources, constitutional constraints (only the Federal Government can legislate on mining) but their greatest challenge is lack of creative thinking and devotion to serve the people who elected them to office.

Advancing argument against creation of more states, former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi said, “Almost all States depend on the federation Account to survive, and this dependent nature of States makes them subordinate to the Federal centre and negates the Federal principle of local autonomy.

“Take for instance, the Republic of Indonesia with a population of two hundred and fifty three million has only 34 states. Brazil with a population of two hundred and two million only has 26 states. Pakistan with a population of one hundred and ninety six million has just four provinces.”

Less than six of Nigeria’s states actually economically viable to the extent that they can meet next month’s payroll without government intervention, hence the national imperative is to wither these unviable states or in the alternative create constitutional mechanisms that will rein in their excesses. States should control resources in their domain with a subvention paid to the federal government as this will stimulate them to look inwards for creative solutions rather than to wait on Abuja to justify their existence.

ISAAC ANYAOGU