Controversy in Federal Executive- National Assembly Partnership on Budgetary Process in Nigeria: Scrutinizing the First Tenure of President Muhamadu Buhari’s Government, 2015-2019
- March 6, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Public Administration
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue II, February 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
Asadu Ikechukwu Ph.D.1, Sunday Evaristus Abonyi, Ph.D2*
1Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria
2Department of Social Work, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
*Corresponding author
Abstract: The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided for a presidential system of government with instituted separation of power, checks and balances. Section 81 (1) of the constitution demands that the President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the federation for the next following financial year while section 81 (2) and section 82 provide further actions relating to budgetary matters. Notwithstanding these constitutional provisions, controversies tend to arise between the Federal Executive and the National Assembly on budgetary matters. This study explored the disagreement between the Federal Executive and Federal Legislature on Budgetary matters in the first tenure of President Muhamadu Buhari’s Administration 2015-2019. This is with a view to analyzing the diverse perspectives on executive-legislative roles on budget process and finding the core causes of the disharmony as well as possible measures for promoting good partnership between the two organs on budgetary matters. The methodology of the paper is qualitative and descriptive. Data for the study were generated through documentaries and interview. The finding of the study demonstrates that there are divergent standpoints on executive-legislative roles on budgetary matter. The study also revealed that misinterpretation of constitutional power, self preservation and interest protection, supremacy struggle, and poor leadership skills are among the central factors that generate conflicts between the two organs on budgetary matter. Consequently, the work suggests, among others, that executive-legislative partnership be strengthened via effective liaison, regular capacity building, respect for constitution and resort to judiciary for interpretation of disputing constitutional provisions.
Key words: Executive, Legislature, Conflict, budget, constitution
