The proposed executive bill seeks to bring more responsibility on public office holders in the implementation of the nation’s annual budgets.

The proposed bill has already gone through a lot of consultations with stakeholders including civil society groups and the private sector.

Finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told State House correspondents after a stakeholders meeting yesterday that some minor amendments were made on the draft yesterday.

The meeting was attended by some governors, party executives and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Okonjo-Iweala said that the proposed jail terms would also affect other public officers, including Accountant-Generals and local council chairmen.

Anwering a question, the minister said that governors would not be affected by the provisions of the bill because of the immunity clause they currently enjoy.

She said the draft went through extensive consultations and that it was being proposed to correct the faulty manner by which annual budgets were being implemented at both the state and federal levels.

“Managing the economy requires the cooperation of the three tiers of government,’’ Okonjo Iweala said.

She said that the recurring failures in the effective implementation of budgets stemmed partly from their faulty preparation.

The minister said that under the proposed law which was already in place in countries like India, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, the nation’s budget would be made more transparent.

“The budget would be monitored by an 11-member fiscal management council.

“This is designed to ensure that we budget in a transparent manner and with performance indicators put in place such that it would not be completely dependant on commodity and oil prices,’’ she said.

She said that part of the failure of past budgets stemmed from the fact that they were completely dependent on the price of oil and that any change in price had always adversely affected the budget.

“The bill shall put in place a fiscal rule independent of commodity prices and also ensure prudence in managing what is there,’’ Okonjo-Iweala said.

She said that provisions would be made “to curb and control budgeting beyond one year’’ in the bill which would soon be sent to the National Assembly.

The minister said that other provisions in the proposed bill include the need for “responsible borrowing” which must be approved by the legislature.