1. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUDGET AND RESEARCH OFFICE (NABRO) NIGERIA A PRESENTATION AT THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICES COMMUNITY MEETING “SEMMINAR ON OPEN GOVERNMENT, INFORMATION AND BUDGET TRASPARENCY” JUNE 11,2014 OTTAWA, CANADA

2. Introduction The NABRO is an initiative of the Nigerian legislature to support its work in its engagements with Executive institutions. The office took off as an administrative outfit in March 2012. It is awaiting the passage of its enabling Act, which is in progress at the chambers of the National Assembly, Abuja

3. Our Mandate Vision A Nigeria governed with good legislations based on researched facts, accountability and comparative best practices. Mission To provide the National Assembly with objective, timely and non- partisan analysis, information and estimates needed for economic and budget decisions

4. Our Mandate contd Functions Some of our functions include: Provide independent, unbiased and non-partisan analysis of the National Budget Estimates Provide independent and continuous review of the budget of the Federal Government including monitoring of existing and proposed programmes and budgets.

5. Mandate contd. Provide assistance to all committees in both chambers of the National Assembly, including Information with respect to budget and bills relating to new budget heads Information with respect to estimated future revenue and changing revenue conditions Prepare and present to the National Assembly periodic forecasts of economic trends and alternative fiscal policies Provide the National Assembly with cost estimates including an analysis of the inflationary impact of any proposed legislation; etc

6. Scope of work The scope of our work includes: Review and Analysis of annual Federal Budgets Review and Analysis of Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks Budget Implementation Performance Reports Impact Analysis of proposed legislations and bills Sectorial Reviews and Analysis

7. Scope of work contd Economic and Fiscal Outlook Reports, etc Presently the concentration of our work is on the budget analysis and reviews because of legislative’s interest.

8. Publications Since 2012, on a regular basis we have published, Review of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper of the Federal Government. (MTEF/FSP) Review of Federal Government’s Budget Proposal. Comparative Analysis of Appropriation Act and Proposal Mapping of Capital Projects in the Appropriation Act

9. Publications contd. Mid-year Report of Budget Implementation Annual Report of Budget Implementation Also, as the need arises, we have partnered with committees of the National Assembly and some of our development partners to work on and produce reports, eg Report on the remittances and revenue collection of Federal Government Agencies: performance review of Independent Revenue Generating (IGR) Agencies.

10. Publications contd. Report on the Proceedings of the House of Representatives Stakeholders Forum on Budget Implementation in Nigeria

11. Some highlights of our work Mapping of Capital Projects of the Appropriation Act The annual budget is a massive compendium of the recurrent and capital expenditure of the MDAs of the Government. The mapping exercise is a categorisation of the capital projects into Zones and States so that legislators can easily know all the projects of the MDAs within their States and Constituencies. Revenue Collection Templates In partnership with Facility for Oil Sector Transparency in Nigeria (FOSTER), the office has developed a template for the collection of information on oil revenue from the relevant agencies of Government. The template will for the first time give the legislature access to primary data from revenue generating agencies.

12. Highlights contd. Medium Term Expenditure Framework As a pre-requisite for the annual budget presentation to the National Assembly, the Executive presents the MTEF/FSP to the Assembly for scrutiny and approval. NABRO, since its inception, has carried out a critique of the document for legislative debate. A number of issues were raised, but it is noteworthy that the legislature was able to make use of our analysis to engage the Executive in informed debate to make a case for increase in proposed benchmark price of crude for 2013 and 2014.

13. Highlights contd. Strategic Plan In partnership with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) supported by British Department for International Development (DFID), a 3-year strategic work plan (2014-2017) for NABRO is in progress. The strategic planning exercise helped us to think through our mandate coming out with clear vision and mission statements, as well as developing logical framework and monitoring and evaluation framework. The plan should become operational before the end of the year.

14. An identified key objective of the office is improved external partnership for the development and review of legislations. This means increased outreach to other PBOs and prospective partner research organisations, which makes this platform of GN-PBOs invaluable to us. We have posted our draft bill on the community’s website and will appreciate comments and inputs from all of you. Thank you conclusion