GUSAU AND THE BUDGET SCANDAL.

It is no longer news that Mr Yahaya Gusau has been shown the door out as
the Director-General of the Budget Office in Nigeria. Obviously, Gusau had
sinned and fallen short of the grace of government. But what exactly were
his sins?
On Tuesday, 22 December, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari presented a
budget estimate of 6.1 trillion naira for the year 2016 to a joint session of the
National Assembly. it was the biggest budget ever in the history of the
country. While presenting the budget tagged, Budget of Change, President
Buhari promised, among other things, to cut down on wastage in
government spending. In his words, We are determined to ensure that our
resources are managed prudently and utilized solely for the public good,
In January, 2016, however, just a few days or even hours before the budget
was due to be reviewed by the National Assembly, news emerged that the
document was missing. The Senior Special Assistant to The President on
National Assembly matters, Senator Ita Enang, was believed to have
masterminded the surreptitious move to withdraw the budget and replace it
with a revised version, following revelations that the budget was heavily
inflated with spurious and fraudulent allocations.
The present administration under President Buhari came to power riding on
the mantra of change, and has taken the bull by the horn in the fight against
corruption. The public perception is that, under Buhari, it will no longer be
business as usual. Therefore, the padding of the budget, by either
commission or omission, is an egregious blunder which has sparked outrage
among Nigerians, and has come to Government as a huge embarrassment.
The statutory tasks of the Director-General of The Budget Office include, but
not limited to, the formulation and implementation of budgetary policies. He
it is who painstakingly examines the budget and assists the Minister of
Budget and Planning in providing technical guidance and evaluation of
budget details. In this regard, the Presidency believes that Mr Yahaya Gusau
has effectively failed to deliver on his mandate.
Mr Gusau was appointed to office on 18 August, 2015. He replaced Mr Bright
Okogu who had served for eight years (two terms of four years). He was to
serve a renewable term of four years but has now been replaced by Mr Tijani
Abdullahi, less than six months after being appointed.

Mr Abdullahi, about whom little is known, is a fellow of the Certified National

Accountants of Nigeria. He is also said to be a former banker of repute, with
experience in managing public finance. As DG, he is expected to work with
the Minister of Budget and National Planning.
Meanwhile, budget defence by the various organs of government, which is a
usual approval process, is currently going on at the National Assembly. It is
not known when the budget will eventually be passed, but analysts say it
may take a while.