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Government to
hinge 2005 budget on NEEDS
By Sanya Adejokun
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The 2005 budget to be presented to the
National Assembly next Tuesday would be based on the National Economic
Development and Empowerment Strategy (NEEDS), Permanent Secretary, National
Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Babangida Aliyu has said.
Aliyu told members of the House of
Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Development led by
its Chairman, Dave Salako, on Wednesday that it would be the first budget to be
solely based on NEEDS.
He said it would, therefore, be
appropriate for the commission to be adequately funded to enable it to monitor
the implementation of the budget.
Aliyu, who represented the Economic
Adviser to the President and Chief Executive of the NPC at a briefing of
lawmakers on the implementation of the 2004 budget, said due to inconsistencies
in government policies, the commission has become more of a hybrid
organisation, oscillating between a ministry and a commission.
This, he said, was responsible for the
inability of the commission to perform its function of being the engine room of
the country.
He said the restructuring being carried
out at the commission was to correct the anomaly, saying this would reduce the
number of directorates from 10 to six.
Aliyu said the law setting up the
commission stipulated that it should not be part of the core civil service
structure, adding that the law also provided for an executive secretary and not
a permanent secretary with powers to hire and fire.
He said at the end of the restructuring
that would also collapse some of its parastatals, only the best brains would be
left behind while others would have the option of being redeployed.
Aliyu said inadequate funding has
hampered the functions of the NPC especially in 2004 and that this may result
in the commission being unable to pay salaries by October ending.
He said some foreign agencies have agreed
to fund the printing of copies of the NEEDS document to be circulated in
secondary schools as part of the schools’ curriculum.
He said some universities have
established research units to study the NEEDS document and programme.
Salako criticised the commission for not
relating well with his committee and solicited for cooperation to enhance the
performance of its oversight functions.
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