CIRDDOC and the International Budget Partners - Findings of the Open Budget Survey 2008

Introduction: The Open budget Survey 2008 is a comprehensive analysis and survey that evaluates whether national governments give the public access to budget information and opportunities to participate in the budget process.  It also examines the ability of legislatures and auditors to hold their governments accountable, measures the overall commitment of the participating countries to transparency and allows for comparisons among countries. 85 countries including Nigeria participated in the survey. CIRDDOC facilitated the survey in Nigeria. 

The findings which have been widely disseminated in Nigeria were based on data collected in 2007 through an extensive questionnaire composed of 123 questions that covered the four phases of the budget. Researchers evaluated the information that should be available at each phase of the budget and the other measures needed for effective legislative oversight and the auditing of budgets. Within each country, a researcher or team of researchers drawn from civil society and independent of the government and political parties did the survey. The researchers had to provide evidence of their answers. Their work was analysed and reviewed by the IBP staff to cross check it against available information, and then it was peer reviewed by two independent in-country budget experts.

This internal civil society evaluation of how open and accountable a government is to its people distinguishes the Open Budget Survey from other studies of budget transparency, which rely primarily on self-reporting by governments and research by external reviewers.  

The Open Budget Survey 2008 serves members of the public, legislators and civil society advocates, journalists, researchers, academicians, policy makers, economists, development specialists, and others interested in use of government resources. It is intended to provide an in-depth set of measures that government officials may adopt to improve their budget performance.

Key Findings in the Survey: One of the most significant findings of the Survey is that many governments produce the budget information that would allow the public to participate effectively in the budget process but do not release it.  In 51 of the 85 countries surveyed, the government produces at least one key document that is not disclosed to the public. Thus governments could improve transparency immediately and at a very little cost, simply by disclosing information that is already produced.  

Key findings on the Nigeria Budget Process were:

• Budget proposal provides minimal information to the public. It is very difficult to track spending, revenue collection and borrowing during the year.
• Nigeria does not publish its in-year reports or a mid-year review. It is also very difficult to assess budget performance in Nigeria once the budget year is over.
• A year-end report is not made public, preventing comparisons between what was budgeted and what was actually spent and collected.
• Nigeria does not make its audit report public and does not provide any information on whether the audit report's recommendations are successfully implemented.
• Legislators receive budget information too late to allow them to adequately review it or to hold the public hearings necessary to foster debate and careful scrutiny. The Survey found that in 24 of the 85 countries, the legislature received the budget six weeks or less before the budget year.
• Nigeria has yet to codify the right to access government information into law, though a freedom of information bill is currently being considered. Access to the highly detailed budget information is needed to understand the government's progress in undertaking a specific project or activity remains very limited.  
• Nigeria's score on the Open Budget Index shows that the government provides the public with scant information on the central government's budget and financial activities during the course of the budget year. This makes it very difficult for citizens to hold government accountable for its management of the public's money.
• The budget is usually presented in a format that is not easy to understand, and as a result it is viewed as a concern only to Government. The language of the budget is highly technical and unfriendly to the reader. This has led to apathy or indifference among the citizens, particularly women who top the illiteracy scale.   

BUDGET DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED BY GOVERNMENT

1. Pre-Budget statement                           Yes
2. Executive's Budget Proposal                 Yes
3. Citizens' Budget                                   No
4. Enacted Budget                                    Yes
5. In-Year Report                                     No
6. Mid Year Review                                 No
7. Year End Report                                  No
8. Audit Report                                        No 

Conclusion 

"That governments already produce information for their internal use or for donors that they do not make public tells us that the lack of transparency is often more a question of political will, rather than one of capacity," The OBI 2008 shows that 68 of the 85 countries surveyed-80%-do not provide the public with the comprehensive, timely, and useful information people need to understand, participate in, and monitor the use of public funds.  Almost 50% of the 85 countries studied provide minimal or no information. 32% provide some information; only five countries provide extensive information.  Restricting access to information hinders the ability of the public, journalists, commentators, academicians, and CSOs to hold officials accountable and creates opportunities for governments to hide unpopular, wasteful, and corrupt spending. Lack of information also hinders the ability of other government bodies, such as legislatures & national audit offices, to do their jobs effectively. When citizens have access to information and opportunities to participate in the budget process, they are able to improve the decisions made about what to spend public money on and the quality of how the money is actually spent. That means that the allocation of scarce public resources is more equitable and effective.  The worst offenders, the countries that make scant, if any, information available are: Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé e Príncipe.  

At the other extreme, some countries are highly transparent and make abundant data available to the public throughout the budget process. According to the OBI, the most transparent countries are: United Kingdom, South Africa, France, New Zealand, & US. The top performers include developed & developing countries. The strong showing of South Africa, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, & Botswana (all of which provide significant information to their people), demonstrate that developing countries can achieve transparency given sufficient willingness of their governments to be open and accountable to their people.

Executive Budget Proposal is one of the most important documents - contains the executive's plans for the upcoming year along with the cost of proposed activities so it should be available to the public and to the legislature at least 3 months before the start of the budget year to allow for sufficient review and public debate. Publishing these documents would greatly strengthen public accountability, since they provide updates on how the budget is being implemented during the year. Nigeria's Budget transparency performance can be improved substantially, quickly, and at low-cost. All that is required to achieve this in Nigeria is for government to make available to the public the budget information that they already produce for internal or donor purposes (Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTSS Etc.). 

The Appropriation Act is a public document; it should be accessible to the public together with other public finance information. The government at both the executive and legislative arms should consider simplifying the budget and in addition print them for dissemination including through a website on budgeting. The Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit should in collaboration with civil society, facilitate the production of an ABC of budgeting in Nigeria, which will provide information on the process of budgeting in Nigeria. The ABC should be written in a comprehensible non-technical language.   

There is a need to create and ensure a well functioning mechanism of citizen participation in decision - making processes with an oversight function on budget issues. Establishment of an NGO Liaison Desk and a Gender Desk at the Finance Ministry in Abuja and in the states would be an important step to create the above-mentioned mechanism. Government should ensure well-functioning mechanism for giving greater voice to the public in economic decision-making as well as decreasing the opportunity for corruption in governance and budget implementation - the bane of our society.