Prof. Pat Utomi on Wednesday blamed the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for the economic downturn in the country.
He described those who would attribute the recession to fall in oil price as bad managers.
He said the Buhari government would have preempted the situation if it had been futuristic in budget planning and management of resources.
Utomi, who blamed the situation in the country on planlessness and lack of foresight, said a good national budget could have saved the situation.
Utomi spoke as a guest lecturer at Dr Emmanuel Egbogah budget roundtable organised by the Business School of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.
His lecture was titled Budget Processes In Nigeria: Challenges And Implications For National Development.
Utomi said a good budget should contain what the people would want and envisage the implications of future economic changes and challenges.
He said “Our major problem is that we lack planning and budget discipline.
“In beginning of a budgeting process, it must be matched with where the people are going; but beyond revenue and expenditure, budget has to do with discipline and execution.
“Those blaming fall in oil price were just bad managers. That was not the cause of this recession.”
Lamenting the prevailing backwardness in the country, Utomi stated that the sad situation was basically thrown up by the events of 1966 when a gang of military boys hijacked the leadership of the country. He said the same characters had remained in power since then in different guises.
In his keynote address, the deputy chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Mr Chris Azubuogu listed factors that hindered the actualization of the national budget to include poor funding of budget, lopsided budgeting, deficit budget and high domestic debt profile which he said was in trillions of naira.
Speaking, the director of the business school, Prof Austin Nonyelu said the conference was necessitated by the challenges and problems that bedevilled Nigeria budget process at all levels of governance which he noted had impacted negatively on service delivery.
He said Nigeria budget process at all levels of governance was bedevilled by myriad challenges and problems which impact negatively on service delivery.
His address read in part “The common narrative in Nigeria is that federal and state budgets are rarely implemented with consequential negative effects.
“The newly established Unizik Business School in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka is committed to unravelling these issues and hopes to provide the roadmap that will direct and reorient the entire mechanisms and processes involved in budget development and implementation.”
