It is almost certain that President Umaru Yar'Adua will present the Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly this week.

The Bill puts priority on national security, with huge investment in security matters in which Abuja and five other cities will get special attention; based on need, not on federal character.

President Yar ' Adua

Four of the cities are in the South, one is in the North, according to Presidential Spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, who spoke to reporters at the weekend. He said security features prominently in Yar'Adua's seven-point agenda, but that the delay in presenting the budget to the legislature is due to the global economic crisis and the fluctuating oil price on which the budget is benchmarked.

"The budget has taken a long time to prepare not only because of the global economic crunch that affected the oil price benchmark but also because the President has had to refocus the efforts of the Ministry of Finance several times to align with his thinking," Adeniyi narrated.

He disclosed that Yar'Adua had to alter sections of the budget as he realised that governance in the past was adversely affected by lack of planning as well as disregard for due process and the rule of law.

"One sad aspect of our budgeting process that the President frowns upon and which he intends to change is the politicisation of projects.

"For (him), every project must be defended on the basis of national priority and need rather than on political exigencies."

Besides, he stressed, Yar'Adua wants a shift such that the emphasis of the 2009 budget will be on 'how much to spend' and on 'actual deliverables.'

Adeniyi said those who criticise the administration for being slow do not acknowledge that hurried decisions waste national resources, whereas proper planning is the key to good governance.

"The budget henceforth will not be about how much is being spent but what is being delivered to the people; and I have no doubt in my mind that at the end of his tenure, when Nigerians put this President on a scale, he would come out good. That ultimately is what counts.

"The mandate of Works and Housing Ministry will be to complete the construction and rehabilitation of more than 1,000 kilometres of roads as well as the engineering design of about another 1,000 kilometres.

"Many bridges also fall under this category of construction and rehabilitation. And (Yar'Adua) has taken a complete inventory of all federal roads. There are 30,000 kilometres of them nationwide and (he) has prioritised them under different categories with timelines."

The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources plans to increase land cultivation through irrigation and raise harvest by about 200 per cent.

A similar effort will go into fish production to cushion consumers against the world food crisis, Adeniyi added.

Source: Independent