getting Zero Based Budget right

The thing with budget process, Zero or Envelope is that they are continuous, they never stop.

Whatever system is chosen, it still involves review of existing current budget, receipt of new budget proposals, review of proposals, consolidation of proposals, approval of consolidated budget proposal, (I am simplifying).

This is complicated especially when the budget process is zero based, because the budget planner is to start with a zero base, they must consider each budget as a “new” budget.

Imagine your University kids come to you every year for pocket money and you adopt a Zero Based Budget (ZBB). Every year your kids will justify handouts, feeding, phone bills to you. That process forces them to defend every naira they get, but it forces you to spend considerable time and expertise to understand their spending needs and patterns and the economy of the universities. this is very technical and complicated work. You can see the ZBB allows a deeper investigation of the needs and resources of government, if done properly, but it’s complicated.

Yesterday we read the Presidency in reaction to the “embarrassment” with the 2016 budget has removed over no fewer than 184 top budget officials from budget duties and sent to establishments that have little or nothing to do with budget.

This reaction presupposes the problem with the 2016 budget was human, thus changing the humans changes the budget, lets consider this a fair assessment, whatever budget plan adopted must be in line with manpower availability in the civil service, this is critical. Keep in mind the 2016 budget as stated by the Auditor General of the Federation was not Zero-based.

We are now in March 2016, thus we have 8 full months to go, let’s assume the budget will be submitted in December 2016, will 8 months be enough to train these “green” staff on budgets, especially zero based budgets in time for the 2017 budget be presented?

One of the main issues with the 2016 budget was a cutover from Envelope to Zero-based budget, in under 6 months, and we saw the results.

So let’s not rush this, to my mind we need a full budget cycle to train these new civil servants on ZBB, then we need to gradually scale the ZBB in, not to demand 100% compliance from day one. We can start with the largest MDA eg Min of Power, Works and Housing, and work down. We have to ensure we get this right.

This may be a better option, to practically implement this.