Dipo Olowookere
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A former Minister and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, has suggested that the new Ministry of Budget and National Planning be renamed Ministry of National Planning and Budget (MNP&B).
According to him, the naming ‘National Planning and Budget’ is a global standard because funds allocation (budgeting) comes only after a plan has been developed and approved.
Dr Usman made this disclosure while speaking as a panellist and discussant at the ongoing Annual Joint Planning Board meeting organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in collaboration with the Kano State Government holding at Tahir Guest Palace, Kano.
He added that, “Appropriate budgetary allocation is achieved only after a well-designed and articulated plan is on ground and so in any case budget is derived from planning.”
Dr Usman commended the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing the budget to the national planning, describing the decision as appropriate to ensure judicious allocation of resources based on approved plan.
In his contribution to a paper presented on monitoring and evaluation and the menace of abandoned projects in the country, the former minister said that there is a comprehensive list of abandoned projects in the custody of the National Planning Ministry which he was able to compiled during his time as a minister and advise the ministry to do a little update and move on.
