…Two-year jail term, N5m fine await offenders
The House of Representatives is seeking to establish a budget management office for the country to take care of planning, presentation, implementation and monitoring of national budgets.
A bill to establish the office passed second reading during the House’s plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, in Abuja on Wednesday.
The bill was jointly sponsored by Speaker Gbajabiamila and Rep. Henry Nwawuba.
The long title reads, “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Office of Budget Management of the Federation and provide a Legal Framework for Budget Process Management in the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure effective Regulation of Budget Preparation, Presentation, Implementation and Auditing; and for Related Matters (HB. 2063).”
It’s the third bill by the Speaker, which passed second reading in the last 24 hours.
The duties of the envisaged office are, “prepare the annual budget proposal for presentation to the National Assembly by the President; supervise the implementation of the budget by ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government to ensure compliance with the law and policies of the administration;
evaluate the effectiveness of programs, policies, and procedures of the ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government to ensure consistency with governing priorities;
provide budget function, implement budget and fiscal policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria;
improve the budget process by imposing compliance with strict timelines for the Budget process in the National Assembly;
apply concrete indicators to measure the performance of the annual budget to ensure delivery of the expected development outcomes as set out in various development plans;
oversee the implementation of the budgets of the federal government to ensure accuracy and fiscal transparency;
approve the withdrawal of statutorily approved funds from the Federation accounts to implement the appropriations law of the federal government;
provide quarterly reports of budget performance and implementation to the National Assembly; and
perform all other functions incidental to the effective management of the budget process in the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
A director-general appointed by the President will oversee the operations of the office in line with the legal framework, including submitting annual reports on budget implementation/performance to the National Assembly.
The bill provides penalties for anyone or organ that hinders the DG or staff of the office from performing the lawful duties as spelt out in this framework when passed into law.
For example, Part V of the bill makes the following provision, “A person who —
without justification or lawful excuse, obstructs, hinders, assaults or threatens the Director-General or their members of staff acting under this Act;
knowingly submits false or misleading information; or
knowingly misrepresents to or misleads the Director-General or a member of his or her staff acting under this Act, commits an offence and is liable, or conviction, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years, a fine of N5,000,000.00 or both.”
Another provision stipulates a jail term of two years or a N1m fine or both.
It says, ” A person who violates sections 25, 26 and 27 of this Bill is guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, a fine of ₦ 1,000, 000 or both penalty.”
The bill secured a unanimous vote for second reading on Wednesday for further legislative work.