Quantity surveyors seek role in budget process

Lagos-based cost accountants have raised eyebrows on the method being employed in preparation of the nation’s budget, saying the system has cost Nigeria billions of naira yearly.

They noted that the exclusion of surveyors, who are meticulous, analytical and empirical in budget process especially in infrastructural projects is a disservice to the nation and intentional in order to perpetrate corruption in projects.

The Nigerian Institution of Quantity Surveyors, (NIQS), State’s Chairman, Mrs. Adenike Ayanda, who made this known during a media chat with journalists in Lagos, said it is a disservice to the nation for not engaging quantity surveyors (QS) in budget preparation especially in infrastructural developments, which constitute over 60 per cent of the nation’s budget.

According to her, the inclusion of surveyors in budget preparation will improve budget performance; avoid budget-padding syndrome and check large number of abandoned projects in the country.

She said: “ In Nigeria, a lot of assumption is often used to determine the price of   road projects in Nigeria without measurement but that is not done in advanced country.

“They are still using the Bill of Engineering Measurement (BEM), which involves assumptions or provisional sums instead of Bill of Quantity Surveyors Measurement, which involves actual measurement of projects.

“The implication is that Nigeria pays more on project based assumptions   without proper valuation and value of money.

Also lamenting the economic implication of excluding surveyors trained in cost management of infrastructural development in Nigeria’s budget system, a renowned quantity surveyor, Mr. Bamidele Mafimidiwo said it has cost the nation billions of naira yearly and with attendant contribution to recession.

Mafimidiwo, who is the chairman-elect of the body, said the quantity surveyors 2016 Week, which starts today with the theme.
“Achieving value for money through procurement Management: The role of Quantity Surveyors”, was an avenue to stress the need for government to give   QS their rightful role in procurement.