ABUJA — THE Presidency has confronted the leadership of the National Assembly, NASS, with details of distortions orchestrated by the lawmakers in the 2016 budget and asked them to urgently address them in the interest of the nation.

The Presidency handed down the plea at a crucial meeting summoned by President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday night with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and ministers in attendance.

Sources close to the meeting, which took place at the Presidential Villa, told Vanguard that the President used the opportunity of the meeting to review the budget with the leadership of the NASS and highlighted the areas of concern to his administration.

However, the House of Representatives insisted that what it did was in tandem with President Buhari’s change agenda.

In particular, the president complained to the leadership of the legislature that the huge sums of money the lawmakers removed from key areas of infrastructure, agricultural and socio-economic development and added to non-essential areas would derail the agenda of his administration.

The president was said to have expressed regret that it amounted to a slap on his change agenda for the money meant for the strategic Calabar-Lagos Coastal Railway project and major agricultural projects to be removed by the lawmakers when the administration was trying to open up the country and provide mass transportation scheme for goods and services.

The meeting was called after ministers had spent the night to rush through the details of the budget which the lawmakers transmitted to the Presidency only last Thursday.

The ministers, it was learned, came to the conclusion that their budget had been significantly distorted and that it would be impossible for them to make the needed change if the budget was accepted the way it was given to them by the NASS.

For that reason, the presidency has asked leadership of the NASS to take back the document and rework it to accommodate the key national projects, which they removed and to eliminate the ones inserted by them to enable the president assent to the budget.

Alternatively, the president would sign the budget as a formality and introduce a supplementary budget to remove the offending items and to reflect his wish for Nigerians.

The distortions

Among the offending discoveries in the budget details, which the President is uncomfortable with are the huge sums of money taken away from key projects and added to constituency projects of the lawmakers, most of which were never discussed or proposed by the executive.

Other infractions noticeable in the budget details are:

* N4 billion removed from Ministry of Health budget and added to Code of Conduct Tribunal

* Cost of 80 illegal roads without designs added to Works budget, 30 of them not Federal

* Money meant for Works, power transmission, diverted by lawmakers for tricycles, town halls, boreholes in their constituencies

* 73 illegal projects added to Education budget – no designs available for the projects, and no tenders conducted

* Lawmakers slashed money for poor students by 50% in Education budget and added same to their states constituencies.

Vanguard learned that although the N60 billion meant for the Calabar-Lagos rail budget was not in the original budget, the Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, successfully defended and got it included in the amended budget.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who left Abuja for Beijing, China, last night, to press for more financial support for the country, was said to be working on the premise that the NASS would rework the budget to meet his expectation for assent upon his return within the week.

Lawmakers, especially those who were schemed out by the leadership in the sharing of the constituency projects are upset by the discovery and are likely to confront the beneficiaries as they resume today today for plenary.

Meanwhile, some Senators and members of the House of Representatives were divided, yesterday, over refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Budget.

For instance, Senator John Enoh and Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmunin Jibrin, disagreed over the inclusion of the rail project in the budget.

While Enoh said it was included and wondered who removed it, Jibrin said the Lagos-Calabar rail project was never included.

Our action in line with Buhari’s policy thrust – Reps

This is as many lawmakers from both chambers shared different thoughts with the House of Representatives insisting that the budget was in tandem with Buhari’s change agenda.

The House of Representatives insisted that whatever it did was in line with the principles of the constitution and the policy thrust of President Buhari’s administration.

Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas told Vanguard that though the National Assembly had the constitutional powers to appropriate, what was sent to the presidency was not intended to offend anybody.

Namdas, who said that he was not going into the specifics until tomorrow when the House will resume for sitting, maintained that what was done was in line with the cardinal thrust of the administration.

Commenting on the development, a member of the Appropriation Committee and member representing Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency of Edo State, Joseph Edionwele, said any omission will be corrected.

According to him: “It looks as if we are working at cross-purposes with the executive, no, the success of Mr. President is our success. If there is anything like that, it is something that we can rectify.

He said that the National Assembly should be commended instead of being vilified, stressing that the budget document was very ‘dirty’ and full of errors which they painstakingly tried to make implementable for the good of Nigerians.

The member representing Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency Cross River State, Bassey Eko Ewa, expressed surprise that the Lagos-Calabar rail project that will benefit the people was removed from the budget.

“I am so surprised to hear this. How will it not be in the budget? The money that was appropriated to it, where is it?”

He, however, said that if the allegation was true, it may have happened at the compilation stage without the knowledge of the leadership of the House, even as he promised that lawmakers from Cross River State will take it up with the leadership.

Enoh, Bassey disappointed

Speaking on the missing rail project, Enoh representing Cross River Central Senatorial zone said: “Well, you know the National Assembly cannot remove it. If anything like that has happened,then I think the people to answer to that should be the appropriation people. And I think that is one of the problems with, perhaps our procedure of not insisting on our own to look at the details before it is transmitted.

FG to borrow N1.884trn—DMO

Meanwhile, the Director General of Debt Management Office, DMO, Dr Abraham Nwankwo has said that the Federal Government would be borrowing N900 billion and N984billion from the external and domestic markets, respectively to finance the 2016 budget.

He also said the external and domestic borrowings are to re-balance total public stock in favour of less costly external funds.

Nwankwo further noted that the utilization of the borrowing proceeds would be on capital projects to support the growth of productive capacity.

He said this at a one-day workshop on Debt Sustainability and the Challenge of Financing Economic Recovery organised by the DMO for the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Abuja.

Calabar-Lagos rail project not in budget – Jibrin

However, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmunin Jibrin, denied that the Calabar-Lagos rail project was included in the 2016 Budget.

Speaking on his tweeter handle, he said the Lagos-Calabar Rail was never included. “How could NASS have removed what was not there? But the nation is being misled. All they, and those spreading the false information needed to have done is check the initial document sent by the Executive. Executive seems to favour a top-down approach. But this is not enough reason to mislead Nigerians on the role of NASS on the budget.”

Nothing unusual — Ali Ndume

Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, said there was nothing unusual or extraordinary if President Buhari returns the 2016 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly for necessary correction or amendment before assenting to it.

Speaking with Vanguard, Senator Ndume, who noted that former President Goodluck Jonathan had done same in 2014, said that the present government of the APC was that of change, adding that as a new government, delay must be expected, if the mistakes of the past must be corrected.

Action exposes APC’s depth of ignorance – Senator Ogbuoji

On his part, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Sunday Ogbuoji, said the allegation that the National Assembly mutilated the 2016 budget exposed the height of ignorance of governance by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal administration.

Ogbuoji, while reacting to alleged veto of the budget by President Buhari on account of removal of certain projects, Senator Ogbuoji, who represents Ebonyi South, said both the Senate and the House of Representatives would take decision on plenary on the issue, upon resumption,Tuesday.

He added that the decision the National Assembly would take on the issue will be to the best interest of the country.

The legislator said: “That is the matter that will be discussed at plenary, it is not an appropriation committee duty. It is the National Assembly as a whole that will determine that. The National Assembly will take a decision on that, it is not something which you can say one person or committee should decide, it is the National Assembly as a whole.”

On what he think was the best decision the two chambers could take, he said: “For me as a person,what I would like the National Assembly to do is to do what is in the best interest of Nigeria. And what it should do for the best interest of Nigeria is to stop this mischief that the APC- led government has continued to give us. At all point in time,they are looking for excuses on unnecessary issues and blaming others for their ineptitude and non-performance.

“I read in some papers that they said the National Assembly mutilated the budget and the question should be, who is the owner of the budget?Is it the executive or the National Assembly? Where does any member of the executive including the president have the capacity to determine that a budget is mutilated?

“That word “mutilated” is very painful and insulting because the constitutional framework upon which the National Assembly is built is the same framework in which the executive exists… The National Assembly, in accordance with international best practices, gives opportunity to ministries, departments and agencies to come and defend their proposals so as to be able to determine which budgets are practicable.. So, for anybody to now turn around and say that the National Assembly mutilated the budget, I think is not just an insult to the National Assembly but it also exposes the depth of ignorance on the part of those people who say they are ministers. That shows that they know nothing about what is called budget. Budget is an exclusive right of the National Assembly and the constitution makes it very clear.’’

Blaming the executive for the problem, he said: “If they communicate to us and tell us their decision, then the National Assembly will know what to do appropriately,” adding “they had every opportunity to tell us what they needed during the budget defence but if they failed in doing certain things before now, the National Assembly should not be blamed.”

Buhari must stop fighting his children – Rep Uzoma

To the Chairman of the House C’ttee Chairman on Public Petitions, Rep Uzoma Nkem-Abonta (PDP, Ukwa East/West, Abia), President Buhari is at liberty to present a supplementary budget to correct any perceived error in the submitted budget.

“By doing this, the nation will have a budget to look at and restore the confidence of the private sector that is eagerly waiting for the budget to become fully operational. As an elder statesman Buhari should use wisdom and stop fighting his children because he is a man that has integrity”.

Buhari has a right to refuse assent but… Rep Ogor

Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, PDP, Isoko Federal Constituency, said “the president has a right to withhold assent if he is convinced that the budget does not reflect his economic policies that will benefit the citizenry, ‘’but he must convince us beyond all reasonable doubts on why such a change should be effected and Section 80 gives the National Assembly the power to appropriate.”

It’ ll be wrong to remove rail project – Egoh

Rep Oghene Egoh, PDP, Lagos, said the removal of the the Lagos-Calabar rail line was wicked and uncharitable if it is true because “we provided for both Kano and Lagos rail lines in the budget but I’m shocked that Lagos that is the business hub in Nigeria was removed. To me, we must probe deep into why it was removed because it connects all the oil producing states in Nigeria”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/2016-budget-palaver-presidency-gives-fresh-conditions-assent/

Gradually we are seeing the true colour of the NASS members as people who are only interested in what they will make out of the government and not what they will give.
A congregation where you have a lot of past governors and other political jobbers what do you expect. The fact that both the immediate past and present Senate Presidents were named in the Panama papers scandal is an indictment on the whole NASS.
I hope PMB and his team will play their games well to avoid the unholy set up of those greedy & self centered legislators.

What has happened to the power we have to call back serving political office holders who are not representing us well?

These people self..

Ben Bruce was too quick in saying it was never there.

A project that complements the East West road.

buhari has been exposed as a liar.

If anybody thinks any Nigerian legislator went to Abuja because of his people, that person is on a long thing.What is constituency project?. An avenue for fraud.

Aufbauh:
Gradually we are seeing the true colour of the NASS members as people who are only interested in what they will make out of the government and not what they will give.
A congregation where you have a lot of past governors and other political jobbers what do you expect. The fact that both the immediate past and present Senate Presidents were named in the Panama papers scandal is an indictment on the whole NASS.
I hope PMB and his team will play their games well to avoid the unholy set up of those greedy & self centered legislators.

We already know the APC government (both executive and legislative) has got nothing to offer

modath:


That 4bn extra that was removed from health's budget that NASS is "dashing" to CCT, dem gatz to explain why!

i see am o... chai.. imagine if Buhari hadn't asked for a thorough review...

cktheluckyman:

We already know the APC government (both executive and legislative) has got nothing to offer

We agree. That includes Saraki, abi?

There has been no time in the history of democracy where the Presidency substitutes the "representatives" of the people.

Allow the Lawmakers do their work, NASS is not all about Saraki and Dogara rather approximately 450 elected representatives of our people.

If you are concerned about their proposals and bills, talk to them, protest their resolutions, actions and inaction. The same NASS defeated the third term agenda, stood against some "perceived" obnoxious policies of Jonathan administration when APC had their way in the chambers.

The NASS is not as immoral as the Executive where Power lies on the decision of one man. With Buhari's formula of 5% and 97%, the need for constituency projects become imperative because the implementation and execution are coordinated by the Executive.

tit:
buhari has been exposed as a liar.

see ipob

There suppose to be sit-out protest infront of NASS until that budget is properly amended in the interest of the masses! Nigerians are too docile, the NASS members are just there for their own personal businesses.

that is why i will say "if d head is good, then other parts will be good and vice versa"

Nigerians can now see who is who. Waiting for the outcome of today's sitting

cktheluckyman:

We already know the APC government (both executive and legislative) has got nothing to offer

You already know so go and wait for them in 2019 instead of the incessant wailing.

Money meant for Works, power
transmission, diverted by lawmakers for
tricycles, town halls, boreholes in their
constituencies

Just negodu the audacity of these criminals.

Every discerning mind knows the hassle that's characterised this year's budget is simply as a result of the insistence of the executive not to grease the palms of the legislators as was the tradition in the past. Then it was all about taking the budget to the NASS accompanied by a bullion van from CBN, and the members distort figures as they like while you look the other way, then have the budget passed in record time with no questions asked.

The only objections we used to see then came from the press!

Today, Baba is fighting doggedly to retake the country from the claws of these beasts and they are putting up a mighty resistance. But with the assurance of who he is and the goodwill of patriotic citizens like myself and a whole lot of others on this forum, we know Baba will triumph.

It is but just a matter of time before we all start singing that good ol redemption song...

When dey went ahead to submit a budget filled with errors and paddings, dey simply gave the National Assembly the perfect Alibi to do their usual "wuru-wuru"... Dem neva see anything yet, dey must come and perform dat magic dey promised ooo... Watch the blame-game shift to "National Assembly" now even though d last tym I checked the APC is d majority party in the National Assembly...

ahhamhann.. This NASS again. Abeg do quick jare.. Why una remove am the first time sef

No wonder obj went to aso rock to advise PMB not to fall into the trap set by the lawmakers by signing the damn budget already padded by saraki and his goons.

Truly PMB was right by insisting on seeing the details

You can't joke with BUHARI, the NASS leadership knows about this.






He's no Otuoke !




Vanguard again?

LadyExcellency:

. With Buhari's formula of 5% and 97%, the need for constituency projects become imperative because the implementation and execution are coordinated by the Executive.

Madam Excellency, can you post pictures of projects in your constituency that were built by senators under the '100%' years of PDP... Thank you.

Not even suprised at all these budget shennanigans anymore! As usual our problem in nigeria is only down to "our leaders"! Just look at the _stupidity being displayed by these 'nass' members? Removing projects geared towards providing critical infastructure for their peeps and instead inserting tricycles and boreholes for their constistuencies? I give up!


Maybe NASS now means "national assembly of _stupid senators"!

why are we defending buhari's errors by blaming others, so we hsve not seen buhari and his gangs as currupt as other politicians. time will always tells

I laugh when I read some comments. Sometimes, some people would want us to believe that political campaigns are over. And yet, at every slight opportunity they have, they never fail to rub it in the face of their "assumed" political enemies. The greatest worry I have is for the Nigerian masses that have been used and used over time without necessary compensation.

PMB is fighting a real war with this set of people that refer to themselves as legislators. The problem is that most of them have been used to the traditional 'ghana must go' method that any idea of change is alien to them. They want the status quo to remain so that they can always perpetuate their grips on the national till. But they meet their match in the president who is bent on ridding the country of ineptitude.

Most observant Nigerians actually understand their antics. It is unfortunate that the president thought that he could work with anyone that emerged as the leaders of the national assembly simply because they belong to the same party. What he doesn't realise is that many of those people do not actually share in his vision of corruption-free Nigeria. If I were him, I would have seen myself as being alone in the fight to save the motherland.

The first face-off between the executive and the legislature was on the TSA issue. The national assembly wanted their accounts out of the TSA because they don't want their transactions to be monitored. But on the other hand, the president insisted that all accounts must be with the TSA. In a bid to force the president to recant, they (the legislators) raised a false alarm that some people have swindled the nation N25billion as commission. Even though they presented it as if they're very patriotic, but we know that it was an attempt to discredit the laudable initiative. At the end of their worthless hearing on the issue, no N25billion was found.

Secondly, immediately the Saraki's case started in CCT, they've been waiting for an opportunity to get their pound of flesh from the executive who was presumed to be behind his ordeal. Immediately the budget came, they started their game plan. While the copy of the budget in the Senate went missing, the one in the House of representatives remained intact. There was allegations and counter-allegations and at the end of the day, they succeeded in making mince of the budget simply because they wanted to demystify the person of the President. They wanted to show the world that the so-called "Mr Clean" is not as clean as he wanted us to believe. They found an ally in the disgruntled members of the public who already are disenchanted with the new administration because they have just be forcefully chased out from their "pot of porridge". So they came up with the issue of budget padding as if that is the first time they were seeing such.

It is now glaring that the whole noise about the budget is simply because they couldn't toy with it as usual. And moreso, the traditional "settlement" by the MDA's before their budgets could be passed is not possible again. So suddenly, they become "more patriotic and dedicated to the national duty" in such a way that they have to stress themselves to the limit in screening every line of the budget to discover any hidden ambiguities. But unfortunately, while telling us that several billions of naira have been illegally padded to the budget, they were just able to come out with removing a paltry sum of N17billion from the budget! They thought by making the noise, they would have at least shifted attention from their shenanigans.

It's over three weeks now that Senate President has promised to make the budgets of the national assembly public. Up till now, their so-called budget that is going to take care of just 469 people and their retinue of aides is still work in progress. We should never make the mistakes across party line. All of them are THIEVES. We remembered the then opposition in ACN that were campaigning against the jumbo pay of the national assembly. We all know the result as of now, all of them are beneficiaries of the jumbo pay without a single of them rejecting his own share. So, nobody should make distinction among them. They are united when it has to do with their pay but when it has to do with the people they claim to represent, it becomes politics simple.

So, I pity the people who are ceaselessly defending these "legally authorized" thieves. I ask of what use is their defence when in actual fact they have paid aide to do the dirty jobs. Our case is like what our elders would say "eepa n pa ara e, o ni oun n pa aja. Ojo ti aja ba ku n ko, eepa naa n re orun" (literally a louse is killing itself thinking that it's killing the dog. Doesn't it realise that the day the dog dies, itself would die?). So let's continue to make jest of ourselves thinking that we're spiting the government. A word is enough for the wise.

NASS has always been a major problem to the executive power.
Buhari needed to stop dis trend that's why he needed to kick out saraki by all means but the dude is too stubborn .
I pray God kicks saraki out and return normalcy to the friction between d contending powers


Lalasticlala , I hope u won't ban me today cos our own matter sef b like saraki and buhari

Modsenemy:
NASS has always been a major problem to the executive power.
Buhari needed to stop dis trend that's why he needed to kick out saraki by all means but the dude is too stubborn .
I pray God kicks saraki out and return normalcy to the friction between d contending powers undecided


Lalasticlala , I hope u won't ban me today undecided cos our own matter sef b like saraki and buhari

The pagan god of Tinubu is too weak to kick out Saraki because he is backed by the true God therefore no shakingz

cktheluckyman:


The pagan god of Tinubu is too weak to kick out Saraki because he is backed by the true God therefore no shakingz

God does not back corruption neither does he back an unrepentant sinner .

+

enemies of democracy spotted.

tit:
buhari has been exposed as a liar.