IMPEACHMENT has become a reckless demagogue in  our House of Representatives. Members who feel that they are not receiving enough attention on their request for constituency funds in the budget have threatened to  impeach the President.

Sometimes, none PDP members in the House think that the only way to settle their political differences is to threaten the president with impeachment.

May be, they should first start by impeaching their members who have  made  it a habit to fist-fight on the floor of the House like primary one school children.

The President can only be impeached on grounds of “GROSS MISCONDUCT” or for the abuse of the powers of his office or for breach or non-compliance with the provisions of the constitution which he sworn to uphold.

Impeaching the President on account of his failure to fully implement the budget is a non-impeachable offense.

Nigerians understand that the budget is an element of economic planning and national development and an instrument of generating economic growth, but full implementation of the budget is not an exclusive responsibility of the President.

To fully implement the budget will require the synergy of the Ministries, departments and the agencies of Government and, indeed, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). In addition, the lack of full budget implementation is due to inadequate procurement planning and service level agreements with the Ministries, departments, and Agencies of the Government (MDAs)

From my many years of experience in this field and in contracting and Procurement, the problem solely lies in inadequate acquisition planning, financing and related schedules. The solution to full budget implementation might be for Nigeria to try zero-based-budgeting system and see how it could work out for our needs.

Another very serious issue is the calibre of those who are supposed to make  full budget implementation possible and that is the BPP; because the success of the totality of these endeavours depends on that agency.

Unfortunately, the President inherited  this agency and its staff from his predecessor and no effort has been made since he came into office to recognise and staff the agency with professionals in the field.

The Procurement Act (Section 7(1)) stipulates  that: “ there shall be for the bureau a Director–General who shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the National Council on Public Procurement after Competitive selection process and the DG shall hold the office for a term of four (4) years and may be removed from office on the basis of manifested incompetence.”

Perhaps, where we should start from  solving the problem of  full budget implementation  is from the root.

Dr. EMMANUEL OZAH, a public affiars commentator, wrote from Abuja.