Former Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Ghali Na'Abba, has called for
proper investigation of the role played by officials in the executive arm in the
current budget padding controversy.
Na'Abba
Na'Abba made the call while answering questions from Energy Correspondents,
at a workshop organised by Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company
(KRPC) in Kano.
He said it was impossible for the budget to be padded without the connivance
of government officials.
``This stealing of funds cannot be possible without active connivance with some
members of the executive arm,`` he said.
On calls for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to
resign, Na'Abba said that the call was ``unwarranted'' as there was no formal
indictment of the speaker.
``According to my understanding, where the issue being referred to as padding
comes into play, is a situation where some members go behind and add items
of expenditure to what has already been agreed upon.
``For either stealing the funds or doing whatever they feel like doing with it.
``So far, accusations are being traded amongst members of the house, but no
investigation has been conducted.
``On the call for the resignation of the Speaker, the question is, what has the
Speaker done to warrant his resignation?``
He called for full investigation to ascertain the level of involvement of members
of the House mentioned in the allegation before calling on anyone to resign.
``I expect that for 16 years of return to democracy, Nigerians would have
understood the responsibilities of the National Assembly.
``For some weeks now, there has been controversy over what is called padding.
``As far as I am concerned, the National Assembly has the responsibility to pass
the budget, approve it and allow the executive arm to execute it.''
On whether padding constituted an offence, Na'Abba said, "It all depends on
what angle you look at it, I just told you that the responsibility of appropriation
belongs to the national assembly.
``If padding is seen as an offence, then it is when some members of the
national assembly decide to add items of expenditure through the back door
after the bill has been passed by the two legislative arms.
``It therefore behoves on Nigerians to decide who represent them in the national
assembly.’’`
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 30 selected Journalists from the
Kaduna Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) attended the three-
day workshop, designed sharpen their skills in reporting the Oil and Gas sector.
(NAN)
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/budget-padding-not-possible-without-connivance-of-executive-arm-naabba/
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there is a sense in this

Abba or what is he called,didnt he hear when Jibrin accused Dogara and 12 principal officers padded d budget without d knowlege of d house.trying to drag d executive into this mess is nonsensical,cos it's possible to pad a budget without d knowlege of d executive.

What was padded was National Assembly allocations for Constituency project - Is Ghali Na'Abba saying the Presidency be held responsible on how members of the National Assembly chose to allot their budget?

Na'Abba is just seeking relevance. He can be more useful by exposing how budget was padded in his time. Else he can stop polluting the air with noise.