Members of the National Assembly are divided over the alleged withdrawal of the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari had on December 22, 2015, presented a budget estimate of N6.08 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.
Reports recently surfaced that he had written to the National Assembly requesting to withdraw the budget proposal to amend some figures.
Daily Sun reports that some senators are in agreement of the alleged withdrawal, saying the president’s action was in order while others in not in support of it.
According to Senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume, it was impossible for Buhari to withdraw the budget.
“It is impossible to withdraw the budget. It is not a document that you can just write and say you are withdrawing it,” he said.
Ndume explained that the budget proposal was not a document that could be withdrawn just anyhow, adding that it could be adjusted, if need be during the budget defence.
Kabiru Gaya, chairman of the Senate Committee on Works said Buhari has a right to readjust the budget.
He said: “I do not think it has been withdrawn but whatever the case is, the figure of the entire budget will not change. Mostly, there are adjustments of priority projects. So, if the figure under the subhead is not defined, then he has the right to readjust it and bring it back to us. The adjustment can also be done even while we are still discussing the budget.
“Once the main figure does not change, it is possible to make adjustments. If we are cutting 30 per cent from the National Assembly budget, then, it has to be done, pro rata. We must cut across 30 per cent across the agencies, the ministries, and all other government parastatals. There is duplication of figures like purchase of computers. When all the duplications are discovered, it is necessary to take them out.”
On his part, Senator Ita Enang, the special assistant to the president on National Assembly Matters ( Senate), said to the best of his knowledge the budget was still with the National Assembly and he was not aware of the budget withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has described speculations that the budget proposal has been withdrawn as a “big lie”.
Recall that some kicked against the budget proposal after it was presented by Buhari. Femi Fani-Kayode had said: “The 2016 budget is fueled by insincerity, shrouded in fantasy, built on tall dreams and spawned by deceit, ignorance and the illusion of change. It is bloated, unrealistic, expensive, cosmetic and it will not result in anything good.
The National Assembly recently rejected the Treasury Single Account (TSA) being implemented by President Buhari.
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