For the Record: The Money That Never Moved

….How Nigeria’s Expenditure Controls Prevented the PEAC/PFIPC Appropriation from Becoming Public Expenditure

APPROPRIATION WAS ONLY THE FIRST STEP

The public argument has often begun at the wrong point. The National Assembly appropriated funds for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, known as PEAC/PFIPC. That fact is not in dispute. The question is what happened next.

Nothing did.

An appropriation is authority in law to make provision for an expenditure. It is not a cheque. It is not a warrant. It is not cash released from the Treasury. Before money can move, other conditions must be met. Different institutions must act. Each must complete its own part. If one condition fails, the chain stops.