REFORMS WITHOUT TRANSPARENCY?
Many agencies of government still shroud their activities in secrecy
In faraway South American nation of Brazil, President Bola Tinubu declared rather exultantly recently that his administration had stamped out corruption in certain areas since assuming office in 2023. “The reforms I’ve embarked upon since I took over in Nigeria have been very impactful. It was initially painful, but today the result is blossoming…We have more money for the economy, and there is no more corruption,” the president said. As the chief salesman of his country, it was within President Tinubu’s remit to paint a rather fascinating picture of Nigeria before the Brazilian audience, but the hard reality remains that official corruption is still rife at many levels.
Ironically, the president’s claim of eradicating graft came barely a month after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Chairman, Musa Aliyu publicly lamented that about 92 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) were yet to establish Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs). Only recently, a report by the United States Department of State categorised Nigeria among 32 other African countries without any significant progress in the fiscal policy space. There are other issues that impinge on transparency and accountability.
First, the Tinubu government has not kept faith with the publication of Budget Implementation Reports (BIRs) – sometimes spanning four consecutive quarters. This is a requirement of the law which provides the basis for technical and financial accountability, and in turn enhances budget performance and guarantees an alignment with the overall government policy criteria. By foot-dragging in publishing budget performance reports, as provided for by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA, 2007) through the media, that cannot be seen as promoting transparency and accountability.
By its configuration, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 seeks to define the exercise and parameters of the reporting obligation of the government. It was enacted to provide for prudent management of the nation’s resources, ensure long-term macro-economic stability of the national economy, secure greater accountability and transparency in fiscal operations within the medium-term fiscal policy framework. Therefore, budget implementation reports provide necessary information required to fine-tune budget implementation and help policymakers to correct mistakes or failures, to avoid a repeat.
That the salient provisions of the FRA have been observed in the breach by the executive arm of government gives cause for worry. It is on record that over one year after the Tinubu administration took over, it neither published the budget performance reports of the third and fourth quarters of the 2023 Budget which it inherited from the previous administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari nor those of the 2024 Appropriation which it initiated and approved from the scratch. Yet, such reports provide insights and guide policymakers and the different sectors of the economy on the policy direction of the federal government.
While signing the 2024 Appropriation bill into law in January last year, President Tinubu had directed all MDAs to release monthly reports of their implementation of the 2024 budget to maintain an effective budget cycle. There is nothing to suggest that the presidential directive is being adhered to. In fact, facts on the round suggest there seems to be little or no interest by the concerned MDAs to obey the directive. Similarly, the Open Treasury Portal, which was launched with excitement by the Buhari administration to track daily, quarterly, and annual spending of the MDAs is currently inaccessible. So are other windows open to guarantee official transparency.
If officials of the current administration are sincere and ready to transform governance, there is no need to act like the proverbial ostrich. Reforms that are not anchored on transparency and accountability are like mere structures built on quicksand. They cannot withstand the test of time.
