Alleged evidence that Yakubu Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, padded the 2016 budget proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari has been released.
You recall that allegations were made last week that House Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other prominent legislators inflated budget figures in the 2016 budget proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The accusation was leveled by Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC - Kano), who alleged that Mr. Dogara and his deputy, Yusuf Lasan, Chief Whip Alhassan Doguwa, and Minority Whip Leo Ogor colluded to
earmark up to N40 billion to themselves in the National Assembly budget.
Mr. Dogara denied the accusations and challenged Mr. Jibrin to formally petition the House to allow anti-graft bodies to investigate him and his colleagues. They said that Mr. Jibrin was making the accusations due to his recent sacking from his position as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. However, Mr. Jibrin insisted that he resigned voluntarily.
Well, see the evidence with a series of documents with hand-written remarks.
Nigerian civil society groups have called on the House of Representatives to allow the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate lawmakers who attempted to illegally add line items to the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not received the corrected version of the 2016 Budget details from the National Assembly.
She made the revelation while briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
She said:
“On the 2016 Budget, I must say that the Executive and Legislature have worked very hard putting things together, reviewing the details of the budget and it is at its final stage.
“So may be between today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday), the National Assembly will start the process of transmitting the details to the President,” she said.
Speaking further on what was discussed during the FEC Meeting, Ahmed said the government is working hard to settle the issues concerning the 2016 budget. She stressed that the 2016 budget will be beneficial to Nigerians as it would help in finding ways to create jobs and make life easy for Nigerians.
The Senate on Tuesday, April 12 stated that it would not revisit the 2016 budget it had earlier passed and transmitted to President Muhammdu Buhari for assent. It further urged the President to sign the document as transmitted to him and send a supplementary budget on projects he wants included in the 2016 budget.
The Senate spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, while addressing journalists after a closed door rowdy session, said the Senate is mindful of the cry of Nigerians due to the increasing economic hardship.
“The Senate resolved at the close session that we have completed work on the 2016 budget and would not go back on what had been passed.
“We went into an executive session, which is the normal practice to welcome one another and discuss the burning issues on the ground, in this case, the issue of the 2016 budget and the smooth working of the Senate and the National Assembly.
“The constitution has taken note of this kind of scenario where you may have omissions or shortfalls of allocations and the constitution is very clear on what you need to do, which is to sign the budget and then submit a supplementary appropriation.
“I want to assure you that the Senate is not unmindful of the cries of Nigerians that we said, for example, that the Calabar-Lagos rail project was not in the budget does not in any way, undermine the fact that it is a very important project for this nation to embark on.
“So, the National Assembly, the Senate, is open. If the executive brings a supplementary appropriation with respect to this and any other issue that its feels very strongly about, we are ready and willing to consider such but the most important point to note is that we want to remain guided by the provisions of the constitution, “Abdullahi added.
The Senate Spokesman further said that if Buhari does not sign the budget appropriate actions will be taken by the Upper Chamber.
Source
The BriefNG
Buhari has refuted media claims that he rejected the 2016 appropriation bill as ratified by the national assembly. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, on Monday said President Muhammmadu Buhari did not reject the 2016 budget as being speculated.
Mr. Enang told journalists in Abuja that media reports alleging that the budget had been rejected were untrue. He said what Mr. Buhari did before travelling to China was to send the budget to ministries in order to get feedbacks that would inform his assent.
“The president received the budget and convened an emergency Federal Executive Council meeting.
“He gave each of the ministers, departments and agencies the opportunity to look at the details as submitted by the National Assembly.
“This is to enable him get opinion on the state of the budget to enable him take a decision.
“The exercise was conducted on Friday and it is ongoing by the different ministers and ministries,” he explained.
Mr. Enang said Mr. Buhari currently had not exceeded the constitutional time frame to assent to the budget, adding that it should not be assumed that the budget had been rejected.
“The constitutional time frame for Mr President’s receiving and considering the budget began on Friday last week.
“The question has not arisen as to returning or otherwise.
“But I want to say the best way we as liaison officers are handling this matter is to speak less and work more, creating interactions.
“So, we will raise more interactions, consultations, engagements.
“There is nothing for the country to worry about, because we do not want to have crisis between the Executive and the Legislature, and it would not arise; this is one government,” he said.
Source
NAN
Opposition party, PDP has taken swipes at President Muhammadu Buhari on his failure to sign 2016 budget. According to PDP, President Buhari admitted that he has not read the budget.
PDP also said journalists interviewing Buhari know more about 2016 budget than him. The reaction was spurred by the controversial N60 billion Lagos - Calabar rail project which was allegedly struck out by the National Assembly while reviewing the 2016 appropriation bill.
Below are screenshots of Twitter posts via the official Twitter account of the largest political party in Africa:
President Buhari was currently absent at an FEC meeting presiding over the details of the 2016 budget. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is currently presiding over an emergency session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) over the 2016 budget details, according to DailyTrust.
The meeting started today at exactly 11:10am when Osinbajo arrived the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. President Muhammadu Buhari is believed to be in the country, but it is not yet clear why the meeting is being chaired by his deputy.
Apart from cabinet members, some heads of agencies and parastatals as well as several presidential aides are also attending the meeting. State House correspondents were asked to vacate the Council Chambers for the "crucial budget session" summoned to review the details of the 2016 Appropriation Bill which was transmitted to the president yesterday.
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Reports have it that the 2016 budget has encountered a brief hitch as Buhari has failed to sign the amended appropriation bill presented by the National Assembly. President Muhammadu Buhari will not sign the 2016 budget bill passed by the National Assembly last week unless lawmakers provide more details of the legislation, a government official said on Tuesday.
The move spells further delay of the record $30 billion budget aimed at reviving Africa’s biggest economy, hit by a slump in oil prices. Buhari had presented the bill in December before withdrawing it due to an unrealistic oil price assumption and flaws in the draft.
The National Assembly had earlier sent on Tuesday the bill, which calls for record spending, to Buhari’s office but it had contained only highlights of the budget, no details, the official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
“As a result, the president has been unable to sign the bill because he does not know what is contained in the details and what adjustments the National Assembly must have made to the proposal sent to them,” the official said.
Buhari will travel to Washington on Wednesday returning on Sunday, his office said, which makes it unlikely the bill will get signed this week. The budget debated by a joint session of both chambers had left open how it would be financed.
Officials previously suggested up to half of the estimated deficit of 3 trillion Naira would be funded though the sale of Eurobonds or loans from China and international agencies. But no such deal has publicly emerged.
The new budget, which is based on an oil price of $38 a barrel, aims to recharge the economy by trebling capital spending compared with 2015’s plan. A deepening crisis slowed gross domestic product growth to 2.8 percent in 2015, Nigeria’s weakest in decades. The overall budget is 6.06 trillion Naira ($30.47 billion).
Oil revenues, which make up about 70 percent of Nigeria’s income, have slumped, hammering the currency, halting development projects and leaving budget funding uncertain. In January, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun Nigeria said Nigeria planned to borrow up to $5 billion from multiple sources, including the Eurobond market, but officials have not provided an update since then.
Nigeria has in recent months held exploratory talks with the World Bank and tried to secure funding from the African Development Bank and China’s export bank, but no deal is known to have resulted.
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