Stop playing politics with Nigeria’s budget, Olujimi tells Presidency

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, has advised the Presidency to desist from playing politics with sensitive issues like the budgeting process.

Senator Olujimi in a statement on Sunday noted that a recent statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, blaming the National Assembly for the annual delay in the passage of the Appropriation Act was not only unfortunate but only shows that the Executive arm is not saying the truth.

“The President himself in June this year expressed surprise during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly when he was confronted with the fact that ministers and heads of other agencies have refused to defend the budget proposals of their ministries and agencies before legislative committees.

“On that occasion, the President stated that the information was contrary to what he was fed by his aides before coming for the meeting. He then ordered the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), to compel all heads of MDAs to immediately appear before the respective committees so that the budget can be passed.

“It is a well-known fact that some ministers had in the past appeared before the National Assembly committees and denied certain provisions in the budget of their Ministries.

She said the executive arm needs to further interrogate the efficiency of those involved in budget preparation so that it can realize that one of the causes of delays in budget passage is how the budget estimates submitted to the Legislature come without the necessary details and accompanying documents.

According to her, what was usually laid before the parliament was mere window dressing documents for the purpose of the presentation ceremony and the photo opportunities.

Senator Olujimi said there were also past instances like in the case of the 2016 budget when after the budget proposal  was submitted with fanfare, the executive attempted to surreptitiously change what was submitted, thereby leading to allegation of  ‘missing budget’ in the media.

She said the National Assembly, in the spirit of co-operation, decided to keep quiet and demonstrated understanding with the executive. Yet, in order to undermine the legislature and incite the people against the institution, the executive often go to the public to talk ill of the legislature and blame the National Assembly for its own failure.

“It should be noted that just as the Presidency needs to engage legislators for partisan issues, the same approach is more needed on the issues of governance, smooth operation of the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances. When the executive runs down the legislature, it does nobody any good,” Olujimi stated.