Biodun Olujimi, senate minority
leader, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of unjustly blaming the national
assembly over the delay in the passage of the 2018 budget.
The senator said contrary to
Buhari’s claim that the lawmakers delayed the passage, what the executive
usually sends to the legislative chamber is “window dressing documents”.
Buhari presented the budget to
the national assembly in November 2017 but it was not passed until June 2018.
“If the national assembly takes
seven months to pass a budget, then we should be commended for the much that we
have achieved, and can still achieve,” Buhari had said at a recent event in
Abuja.
Reacting via a statement issued
on Sunday, Olujimi accused the presidency of “playing politics” with an issue
“as sensitive as the budget process”.
“The executive arm needs to
further interrogate the efficiency of those involved in budget preparation so that
it can realise that one of the causes of delays in budget passage is how the
budget estimates submitted to the legislature come without the necessary
details and accompanying documents,” she said.
“What was usually laid before the
parliament was mere window dressing documents for the purpose of the
presentation ceremony and the photo opportunities.
“There were also past instances
like in the case of the 2016 budget when after the budget proposal was
submitted with fanfare, the executive attempted to surreptitiously change what
was submitted, thereby leading to allegation of
‘missing budget’ in the media.
“All these developments will
necessarily lead to delay in the passage of the budget. The national assembly,
in the spirit of co-operation, decided to keep quiet and demonstrated
understanding with the executive.
“Yet, in order to undermine the
legislature and incite the people against the institution, the executive will
often go to the public to talk ill of the legislature and blame us for its own
failure.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com