THE 2015 Anambra state BUDGET as presented by Obiano and matters arising

The budget is described as the most important macro-economic policy tool of any government but when the government begins to play Kalo, kalo with such instruments, the citizens are in for bigger trouble.

On Monday, 24th November, 2014, Chief Obiano, the state Governor presented the 2015 Appropriation bill to the House of Assembly. Tagged “Budget for Wealth Creation and Social Cohesion”, the state intends to spend N164.496 billion. Out of this, N110.979billion is mapped out for capital expenditure while N53.517 billion is for recurrent expenditure.  Breakdown from the budget shows that the state is expecting  total earnings of N102.039billion in the 2015 fiscal year- N48.040 billion in statutory allocations and the most annoying,  N54billion from Internally Generated Revenue.  
The Governor noted that there have been a decline in the federal statutory allocations due to falling oil prices but he intends to make up  the shortfall in the budget through capital receipts of N112.459billion but yet failed to explain what he meant by capital receipts during the presentation.  
From verifiable records, the highest Anambra state has realized in the fiscal year for IGR is N8.831 billion at N880million per month but now, they are jerking the expected revenue to N54 billion, N6 billion naira higher than the Federal statutory allocation and at N4.6billion per month in 2015.
The grim situation is that government wants to inflict untold hardship on the citizenry by jerking up all revenue windows with harsh price tags beyond the reach of the people.
While many concerned citizens raised eyebrows over the budget and called for a proper scrutiny of the entire document, the Obiano government spent millions of tax payer’s money again taking center spread adverts in various newspapers analyzing the budget with several graphic details whose accuracy remains in doubt.
In continuation of the ongoing rub my back, I rub yours relationship between the executive and the legislature, the House against public outcry that trailed the appropriation bill speedily passed into law the bogus budget thereby confirming the insinuation in several quarters that the governor allegedly hosted them before presenting the budget and allegedly promised them another N10million each if the budget is passed within 2 days.
We maintain that the 2015 Budget  of Anambra State as passed into law is frivolous, bogus, unrealistic, untenable and drips of several signals that Anambra is now back on the path of hedonism, years of the locust and no one should be surprised if the state begins to raise bonds and external borrowings very soon.  The capital receipts mentioned by the Governor in the budget presentation are simply pseudonyms for borrowing.
As if the budget drama was not enough, the people were treated to another circus show recently during the decoration of promoted senior police officers in Anambra state where the governor presented 20 horses to the police command for crowd control.
Shortly after the presentation, news from insider sources revealed that the horses were actually 100 in number and were procured from Niger Republic. According to the story, the horses were penciled for sharing among the 21 local governments, governor’s lodge, the police in Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi while a Special Assistant (SA) will be appointed to take charge of the horses apart from 21 people sent to Niger Republic for special training on handling the animals all at a whooping sum of N85million.
The Christmas decoration around Bridge Head, Upper Iweka, DMGS Roundabout and Awka was also reportedly executed at the cost of N67million naira. Surprisingly, since this report came out, the government through any of its media aides has never denied, refuted nor clarified its position on the issues while the public deserves to know the true picture thereby lending credibility to the news report.
All these and more are pointers to the fact that Anambra is fast becoming a classical example of how not to govern a state but the dangerous thing in this is the fact that sycophants are praising the governor to high heavens that he is not only on track but that he is the best thing that has happened to Anambra State.
Thank you.
Comrade Aloysius Attah
Chair, Anambra State Branch of CLO