ABUJA (Sundiata Post) I think serving lawmakers like Senator Shehu Sani who are here with us should stop speaking in tongues and address Nigerians in plain words on the allegations against the National Assembly. There are blank spaces in this budgeting scandal, and the legislature has been communicating poorly – at least not effectively.
The Executive has portrayed itself as helpless in our budgeting process, but you and I know that’s a fat lie from the very branch of government that “owns” the treasury, the Ministry of Finance. In fact, our budgets have always been largely ceremonial, mere sheets of paper, and with consistently poor performances.
One of the trending incoherences in Buhari’s version of the story now is that the allocation for Enugu airport in the 2018 budget has been slashed from N2 billon to N500 million. While this may be used to incite the Southeast against the lawmakers, they seem to have a reason for doing so. Because Buhari’s Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, addressing newsmen during a facility tour of the airport about two months ago, announced that N1.7 billion had been released for the airport upgrade, with only N300 million left. So why is the Presidency asking for N2 billion when what’s left is N300 million?
The most amusing thing about this is, Buhari’s indifference to the previous budget padding scandal as exposed by Dr. Abdulmumin Jibrin has come to bite him. He can’t say he was unaware of this outcome. You must think Nigerians are gullible when you return to tell them about a scam you refused to address when it was brought to your attention by a helpless whistleblower.
This budgeting scandal has only revealed that a lot of us don’t seem to know the constitutional powers of the National Assembly, reason we don’t seem to get why they cut and introduce new projects. The challenge between the two branches of government has always been refusal to lobby. Both exhibit disturbing senses of entitlements, wanting things to be done their way without attempting to collaborate or consult each other.
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