Issues in Governor Soludo’s fiscal performance ranking

Recently, the State of States 2024 Report by BudgIT Foundation places Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo-led government of Anambra state among the top five fiscal performing state governments in Nigeria.

And for Governor Soludo and officials of his government and sycophants alike, this is apparently one great achievement with no comparison of its kind.

In this state of states report, meanwhile, Anambra state under Governor Soludo’s watch took only but the distant fourth position based on Index AI of BudgIT assessment criteria, thus trailing behind like smoke from exhaust pipe and only to be counted after Rivers, Lagos and Ogun state governments have held sway as prime pacesetters in this direction.

Yet, the government of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo appears to be so overwhelmed in its hullabaloo and naked dance over this record.

Writing specifically on this development, one of its officials has enthused that: “This is not just a show of strength for Anambra; it is a blueprint for Nigerian federalism at its best”.

Surprising as this hyperbolic remark would seem, it only serves to remind us all of the sad commentary on the scale of official sycophancy that has engulfed the entire government house in Awka, Anambra state.

Curiously, if the fourth position of Anambra state government in the latest BudgIT report on the overall assessment of states’ fiscal policies should earn Nigeria a blueprint on fiscal responsibility, then the first, second and third positions of Rivers, Lagos and Ogun state governments would in the same vein provide the world, Africa and west-Africa sub-region respectively with classic models on fiscal responsibility and sustainability.

Surely, the point need not be beloured that, in addition to Anambra state, these three states of Rivers, Lagos and Ogun have overtime comparatively demonstrated less dependence upon federally distributed revenue for their operations, and so have almost always shown greater viability in terms of their fiscal independence.

In effect, that the 2024 state of states report by BudgIT Foundation shows that Anambra State, like its leading counterparts of Rivers, Lagos and Ogun states, has for a period of time augmented its internally generated revenue, should not necessarily be perceived or treated as a novelty.

Rather, it should at best be seen as a part of evolutionary continuum inherent in the process of nation building. After all, such is a trend that has made Anambra state seem to enjoy some sort of quasi-fiscal independence that largely enabled some past serious administrations in the state to have relatively done well, which predated the advent of Prof. Soludo-led administration.

Furthermore, to even situate all of this in the broader context of the operation of BudgIT Foundation itself, entails that there is a tendency to impugn the standards of evaluation that saw Anambra state under the watch of Governor Soludo emerged the fourth out of the top five fiscal performers in Nigeria.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, it is not that Anambra state does not deserve the fourth place position ranking in view of how much it is well endowed with human, natural and material resources, or that it could not compete strongly and favourably with its counterparts of Rivers and Lagos for the first and second positions respectively, if it is being governed properly.

But the point here is that, there is meant to be a holistic consideration of all fiscal facts in issues and fiscal facts relevant to facts in issue before arriving at the decision to pronounce and project Prof. Soludo’s government as the fourth among the five fiscal performing state governments in Nigeria.

As it were, though many of us Ndi Anambra may not fathom very well how these BudgIT standards of assessment work or how they are applied to practical situations, beyond their mere theoretical articulations, such that would ultimately confer pass marks on a government that is otherwise non-performing (to the extent of even mischievously allocating the fourth place position to it among the 36 Nigerian state governments).

As confusing as this magical feat is, it baffles the more that BudgIT, which prides itself as “a prime civic-tech organisation leading the advocacy for fiscal transparency and accountability in Nigeria”, could not spot, uncover or report any seeming or actual fundamental wrong in Governor Soludo’s 2024 budget, at least, if not for anything, in keeping with its avowed commitment to advocacy for fiscal transparency and accountability.

Without necessarily frittering away time looking at the inadequacies of the BudgIT 2024 report, it will suffice to shift attention to the recent similar data released by StatiSense, another tech organisation specialising in data and information management.

In its own evaluation and report, the fact is established that the 2024 budgets for the offices of four state Governors in Nigeria are greater than the entire 2023 Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accumulated in each of these concerned states.

In other words, what each of the four state Governors budgeted for their respective offices in 2024 fiscal year, exceeded their entire Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2023. Incidentally, the state Governors involved in this riddle include: Governor of Cross River, Bassey Otu, Governor of Imo, Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Anambra, Chukwuma Soludo and Governor of Taraba, Agbu Kefas.

In its November 2, 2024 news report on the subject, Premium Times, a famous Nigerian online Media, has aptly reported the case of Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra state in quite interesting innuendo.

It writes thus:
“Meanwhile, Anambra state, governed by a former Central Bank Governor and economist, Charles Soludo, budgeted #33.97 billion for the Governor’s office in 2024, compared to the previous year’s IGR of #33.46 billion, a budget equivalent to 102 percent of the revenue”.

Unmistakably, while the above excerpt has squarely spoken to the real fact in issue, further analysis by Premium Times also shows that one key determinant of budget size of any Governor’s office is the inclusion of certain agencies into it, as obtained in the case of the presidency/State House at the Federal government level.
However, while it is simply wise not rule out the applicability of the same arrangement in the peculiar case of Governor Soludo, there are nonetheless some serious questions of abiding concerns which need not be swept under the carpet.

First, it stands to be understood why Prof. Soludo should allow to sail through a budget for the office of the Governor that exceeded the entire state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the preceding year.

In the BudgIT 2024 edition of state of states report that allocated the fourth place position to Prof. Chukwuma Soludo-led government, states like Edo, Kaduna and Kwara are noted to share the same fiscal status with Anambra, as they all reportedly managed to generate IGR sufficient to cover at least 50 percent of their operating costs.

In the StatiSense data, on the other hand, the Governors of these same States are reported to have all allocated just a minute portion of their 2023 Internally Generated Revenue to their respective offices (perhaps in an attempt to reduce the cost of governance), according to Premium Times report.

It therefore really boggles one’s mind what then could have been the thought that propelled Governor Chukwuma Soludo to decide to steer his own course differently, especially taking the prevailing hardship in the land into consideration.

What is more, still drawing from StatiSense data, Lagos state – for example -is observed to have allocated the highest budget to Governor’s office in 2024 to the tune of #65.2 billions.

But this is not all that unexpected considering the state’s ability to have generated the sum of #815 billion in 2023, as its annual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

In the case of Prof. Soludo of Anambra state, however, the reverse is the case. Strangely enough, having generated the total sum of #33.46 billion as the state’s 2023 internally generated revenue, Nwa Ngbeke, defying basic cost-cutting measure as dictated by conventional wisdom, went the whole hog of allocating to the Governor’s office a whooping budget of #33.97 billion, which is a serious negation to public expectations.

But be that as it may, as an erudite Professor of Economics, erstwhile Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and international consultant of high repute, many Nigerians, especially the good people of Anambra state, are bound to be inclined to believe that whatever might have propelled Governor Chukwuma Soludo to be operating the controvercial aspect of 2024 budget for the office of the Governor that is clearly bigger than the entire Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Anambra state in the last fiscal year, must have been all done in good faith. However, this mentality in itself is by no means putative. Consequently, there are also people across the spectrum who are bound to be of strong belief that whatever must have caused Governor Chukwuma Soludo to come up with such a bizarre budget for the office of the Governor vis-a-vis the 2023 internally generated revenue of Anambra state, could hardly be divorced from bad faith.

To this end, therefore, the onus is now on Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led government to not just show good cause for his seemingly despicable action, but also to publicly prove beyond reasonable doubt that the fourth place position allocated to government of Anambra state by BudgIT Foundation in its 2024 edition of State of States report is roundly well-deserved and therefore completely devoid of manipulation.

Overall, let it be emphasized here, for the purpose of clarity, that anything worth doing, is worth doing well.

Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije
Writes from Abatete, Anambra State
and could be reached via
+23470675042089

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