An Economist and Public Affairs Analyst, Dr Katch Ononuju, believes that Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan is handling the security and economic concerns of the country well.
This is in view of the delay in the passage of the 2014 budget.
Many Nigerians have asked why five months into the year, the 2014 budget had not been passed and the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, earlier in the week, explained that the delay had been caused by distortion in the original bill sent to the National Assembly.
The lawmakers raised the original figure of 4.642 Trillion Naira presented by the President to 4.695 Trillion, a difference that amounts to about 53billion Naira.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Dr Ononuju believes that the decision of the National Assembly members was motivated by the need to insert clauses that would make the electioneering year easy for them both financially and policy wise.
Dr Ononuju believes that the situation whereby the President has delayed giving assent to the budget due to the distortions is a good thing for the country as it showed that there was more confidence to challenge ideas that do not seem right in the management of country’s economy.
He explained that this was not just a problem of the lawmakers but a situation that shows that the country was experiencing a transition from the dictatorship in its leadership to a real democracy.
He said that it was important to commend the Federal Government for “standing up for the Nigerian people” as he expects the Minister of Finance to look at the figures all over again to see what has been altered for the purpose of knowing its justification.
Responding to questions about the source of the monies being spent by the Government since the beginning of the year, and the suspicion that it might be engaging in illegality, he explained that the Government, in the absence of the budget of a year in view, is constitutionally allowed to spend half of the value of its budget in the previous year.
The implications of the delay in the passage of the budget, however, according to Dr Ononuju are that “it is not good for businesses in the country” as it cripples the smooth planning in commerce and industry, but he believes it would pay off in the end as it was the right thing to do.
Dr Ononuju also threw his weight behind President Jonathan’s consultation with the French Government on the security challenges in the country.
He explained that France being the former colonial master of the neighbouring African countries most involved in the challenges of insecurity in Nigeria makes it a key player in getting the cooperation of those countries.
He said that it was important for the President to identify the impromptu meeting in France as being of higher priority than the widely expected visit to Chibok in Borno State, where schoolgirls were abducted.
Although he declined comment on the President’s response to a journalist who asked him about the matter, he commended the President for his handling of the issue of terrorism in the country.
