The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe has faulted some of the comments made the leadership of the National Assembly during the presentation of the 2013 budget by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, the President’s aide disagreed with positions of the Senate President d and Speaker of the House of Representatives, that the presidency expects the national assembly to ‘rubber-stamp’ the budget as they drew the battle line ahead of approving the Appropriation Bill.

According to Dr Okupe, what the president deserves is not condemnation but commendation.

He also emphasized the president does not disregard the resolutions of the legislature.

House boy

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his response to Dr Okupe, stated the president’s aide is “dabbling into areas where he is totally ignorant about.”

The Speaker in a response “there’s limit to being errand boy” signed by his media aide, Malam Imam Imam, stated that “the uncouth manner in which he replied elected representatives showed his apparent lack of respect to the legislature as an institution.”

“The entire remarks he made gave him out as an overzealous official doing a hatchet job in order to be relevant in the scheme of things” the Speaker stated.

Mr Tambuwal further explained that remarks made by the leadership of the national assembly were in conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, adding that all the statements were backed by facts and figures from field studies by the legislators and expert advises.

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