2016 Budget: Buhari axes first victim, appoints Abdullahi, Akabueze

President Muhammadu Buhari has fired Yahaya Gusau, the DG of the Budget Office, as the first casualty of the 2016 budget padding scandal rocking Aso Rock.

According to Buhari, Gusau, appointed six months ago, took the fall because he failed to deliver on his mandate.

Following the embarrassment discrepancies in the budget documents caused the presidency two weeks ago, and how the opposition latch on to it, Buhari had ordered a probe of the process.

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Findings available in the finance ministry reveal the entrenched interests in Nigeria’s bureaucracy planted questionable votes in the over N6 trillion budget.

Replacing Gusau now is Tijanni Abdullahi, a banker of experience.

Buhari also approved of the appointment of Ben Akabueze, a former budget planner in Lagos, as special adviser to the minister of budget and national planning.

According to the presidency, the new team is expected to smooth out the budget in good time.