Issues relating to the 2009 Budget reverberated in the House of Representatives for most part of last week. Members were angry that with less than two months to the end of the year, and 18 days to the end of the legislative year of the National Assembly, President Umaru Yar'Adua was yet to present the budget to the Federal Parliament.

It was the outspoken Minority Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, who first raised the matter on Tuesday.

Ndume raised the issue under matters of urgent national importance and complained that the way the government was going about the preparation of the 2009 Budget suggested that it was sacrosanct.

The lawmaker, expressed worry that the delay in the submission of the document could slow down the work on the budget, and that the implication would be that the country would not have budget in the new year.

He urged his colleagues to take the matter seriously, warning: "If we don't speak out now, very soon, we will be put in a bad light as if we are responsible for the delay."

Ndume demanded that the House should mandate Yar'Adua to liaise with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and the relevant committees of the National Assembly so that the budget would be prepared, processed and ready for the President's assent before the end of the year. He also asked his colleagues to insist on making input into the proposed budget.

The legislators subsequently voted overwhelmingly for the matter to be discussed the following day at the plenary session when the Deputy Speaker, Usman Nafada, who put it to vote.

When Ndume brought up the matter the following day, members were sharply divided over whether or not Yar'Adua should be reprimanded. However, most of those who spoke were of the view that the President was frustrating attempts to have a budget for the nation as early as possible. Others accused the Finance minister Shamsudeen Usman of allegedly misleading Federal Government on the matter even as they criticised him for failing to comply with constitutional requirement of forwarding the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), few months to the end of the year.

With the tone members spoke on this matter on both days, it is not difficult to fathom that another round of friction over budget matters is looming. So far, neither Yar'Adua nor any member of the Executive arm has responded to the bashing by members. I will be surprised if they do, anyway.

About three weeks ago, Usman, accompanied by the Director of Budget in the ministry and others, met with the members of the Joint Committees on Finance and Appropriation on the proposed budget. That was shortly after the 2008 Supplementary Budget was passed. According to the chairmen of the committees, Ayo Adeseun (Appropriation) and John Eno (Finance), Usman promised the budget would soon be ready. They also revealed that they impressed it on the minister and his team that it would be important to have the document on time because of the enormous work to be done. I have also heard Usman promising at different fora that the budget would soon be presented to the National Assembly.

It is, however, regrettable that things are turning this way. By this time last year, the President had presented the 2008 Budget to a joint session of the National Assembly. In fact, that budget was presented on November 8, 2007, which even, for many came very late. Even so, I recall vividly that after the presentation, the President himself had promised at some points that budgets would not only be implemented faithfully and responsibly, unlike in the days of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, they would be coming as early as possible so that by the beginning of the following year, the country would have one to operate with.

Could Yar'Adua have reneged on that promise? Perhaps so! Several months ago, there were reports, which were also confirmed by the House that the budget was going to be presented late October or early November. However, from all indications, the President is not prepared to do so in the nearest future. He may not do so this week.

Even if he does, it will be practically impossible for the legislators to conclude work on the budget before December 31, because of the pending Christmas and Sallah breaks. The implication, therefore, is that Nigerians would not have a new budget as they enter the new year. The other implication is that the President will fall back on the Section 82 of the Constitution next year to run the country.

That section provides that the President can withdraw monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation to meet expenditure necessary before the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act. It appears we are gradually returning to the Obasanjo years, where budget issues were not taken seriously. This will be fatal.