Role of Legislatures in Budget Process in Nigeria: The Legal Implications of Budget Padding

Abstract

Nigeria is among the nations that stricto sensu applies the principle of separation of powers in regulating the affairs of the nation. The said principle signifies the practice of splitting the powers of government among the different organs of government. A government that operates the principle of separation of powers assigns different political and legal duties to the executive, legislative and judicial organs of government. Against this background, the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) makes it expressly clear that, the executive organ has the power to administer and enforce the laws, while the legislature has the power to make laws and the judiciary on the other hand, tries cases brought before the courts and interprets the laws. The Budget is an estimate of income and expenditure for a period of time and thus, that is what the Budget of Nigeria entails. The preparation and sending of the budget to the legislature for scrutiny and approval is the sole duty of the executive organ. Consequently, the main objective of this study is to determine whether the legislature can after receiving a budget from the executive, rewrite and
incorporate some items that were not sent by the executive? Therefore, this study employs an analytical method by looking at the Constitution and other relevant subsidiary laws in determining whether the legislature has such powers in the Nigerian Legal System. The finding of this study reveals that both the Constitution and the FRA has not authorized the National Assembly members to rewrite the national budget or insert some expenditure into the budget and appropriate recommendations were made.