Making judgments on budget allocation without insight into its execution is absurd

By Emmanuel Nicholas

Frequently, social critics and political financial analysts make the mistake of examining budget proposals through outdated perspectives.

This leads to challenges in distinguishing between proposals and their actual implementation.

This troubling trend has emerged in many abstracts discussing government expenditures.

Rather than reaching out to the appropriate authorities for data on implementation, these self-proclaimed investigative journalists often resort to sentimental analogies, seeking to gain popularity in a superficial manner.

Budgetary allocation serves as a framework for financial implementation, offering an estimated budget for consideration.

However, these figures often act more as guidelines, establishing a ceiling on spending for each project.

Using budgetary estimates to pressure Governor Umo Eno, who runs a responsible government—one that demonstrates accountability and transparency in its operations—is highly condemnable.

In the competitive media landscape, sensational headlines about budget allocations often misrepresent the underlying stories.

Some writers position themselves as whistleblowers advocating for the public, yet their narratives can be misleading.

As most of them are paid hirlings of the opposition to blackmail the ruling party.

In Akwa Ibom State, the most egregious examples of sensationalism come from individuals masquerading as investigative journalists.

While they claim to maintain neutrality, they often engage in deceptive practices, producing sponsored misinformation aimed at damaging the government’s reputation.

Many observers have remarked that their news stories have increasingly become negative, opinionated, misleading, and characterized by interpretative journalism that feels akin to blackmail.

The pervasive and vague employment of falsehood in their news stories has driven more individuals to advocate for its exclusion from public conversation and media reporting.

Under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwella, who served as the Minister of Finance, encouraged journalists to cover how well the budget was implemented instead of merely discussing the budget, which is only a proposal and does not reflect the real expenditures.

The analysis of Akwa Ibom State’s budget figures by journalists has led to an exaggeration of government spending, which serves as a ploy for blackmail.

Creating sensational headlines from the N14.7 billion budget estimate for renovations and vehicle purchases resembles an engineer designing a road without the proper profiling from a professional surveyor.

Writers who fail to investigate how the figures will be used during implementation leap from their windows and turn into a terrifying towncrier, spreading complete falsehoods to the public without understanding the implementation process.

Their only goal is to gain popularity as popcorn made from corn infested with worms.

The falsehood and reality 

(1) The House of Assembly Vehicles The 2024 budget proposal includes providing each House of Assembly member with an SUV and a backup vehicle for their security, which constitutes their constitutional benefits as Parliamentarians.

The leadership of Akwa Ibom State Government, led by a prudent manager, pleaded with Honourable members to accept one vehicle instead of two, after considering the current rage of hardship in Nigeria.

The Akwa Ibom State House assembly members, who are men of like minds, accepted the suggestion of the governor without protest.

The insensitive investigative journalist reports the budget allocation without checking with the budget office to confirm the actual spending. If it was two vehicles that were bought for each member or it was one.

(2) The court rooms building:  The presumed award-winning cave writer also claimed that the state government allocated funds for constructing courthouses but spent the money without actually building them. The investigative journalist lacked knowledge about the separation of powers outlined in Section 175 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution.

Any government system based on the Rule of Law and Democracy, particularly the presidential system as implemented in Nigeria, must The three main branches of government include the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary.

These three branches of government have a distinct division of labour, which is essential for upholding the supremacy of the rule of law.

The Governor is not responsible for how money is expended by the judiciary, but from the budget office, the appropriation of such funds has not been made by the Chief Judge, which is the reason the courtrooms are yet to be built.

The Governor’s Office Annexe   When discussing the renovation of the Governor’s Office Annex, every reasonable person from Akwa Ibom recognizes that the building is in poor condition and needs a makeover.

This complex houses numerous key offices of the state government, including the Budget Office and General Services Department, and accommodates over 300 civil servants, excluding politicians.

This building features a hall that could generate revenue but has remained unused for an extended period due to its poor condition.

The planned renovation, which has not yet started, is essential and serves the state’s best interests.

This building dates back around thirty years, with most of the electrical wiring exposed on the surface. Numerous locations suffer from inadequate lighting, and the furniture is in bad shape, necessitating urgent renovations to align with contemporary engineering standards.

The governance home renovations

Concerning the renovations of the government house, I believe the self-proclaimed investigative journalist ought to have reached out to the budget office to identify which parts of the building will be renovated.

I realize that even though they desperately seek cheap popularity, they will acknowledge the need to protect those buildings from the serious erosion endangering both the Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s houses.

Their lack of knowledge prevents them from identifying the specific area of the building that received renovation funding.

They lack awareness of the danger looming behind the buildings. They would realize that addressing the issue of erosion and strengthening the building’s foundation is essential to withstand environmental challenges.

It is highly inappropriate for these writers to make immature evaluations of the budget figures while examining the budget allocation from their Android phones without understanding the actual tasks required during implementation.

Conclusion

People who want to become social critics should seek advice before delivering severe judgments.

They should involve experts to perform background checks before exposing their ignorance and damaging the reputation of the pen profession.

Governor Umo Eno’s administration prioritizes transparency and focuses on addressing the needs of the people rather than squandering state resources on trivial matters.

He is a leader who enters office to make a difference in people’s lives and does not seek to misuse taxpayers’ money for his own benefit.

When a writer chooses to cover the budget, they must first explore the basics of its implementation to assess the actual spending; as an investigative journalist, it is unprofessional to report on investigative news without solid empirical evidence from thorough research.