Budget: Heads May Roll In Govt Parastatals, Agencies

[b]The Presidency has begun an investigation to determine the level of complicity of heads of some government’s parastatals and agencies in the “mutilated” 2016 budget sent to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Assembly, The PUNCH has learnt.

Buhari has refused to sign the document, claiming that the federal lawmakers had doctored the fiscal bill.

A top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, told one of our correspondents that the probe had become imperative because some top shots were suspected to have colluded with some members of the National Assembly to produce a budget that would be difficult to implement.

“The executive is investigating the level of complicity of heads of parastatals, who are suspected to have colluded with the National Assembly. Heads may roll because we see it as sabotage,” he said.

The source said the executive arm of government was of the opinion that the budget passed by the National Assembly was meant to frustrate Buhari for his decision to be neutral in the current trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets.

Giving an insight into the suspicion of underhand dealings by heads of parastatals with some members of the National Assembly, the Presidency source cited an example of the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited in the Ministry of Communications.

He said it was surprising that out of the N5bn proposed for 36 capital projects in the ministry in the original budget presented by Buhari, the National Assembly decided to move N3.6bn to NIGCOMSAT.

He added that the N3.6bn allocated to NIGCOMSAT was not for capital projects but for training for the planned NIGCOMSAT-2.

Describing the allocation as ridiculous and suspicious, the source said up until now, the Federal Government was still negotiating for funds for the NIGCOMSAT-2.

He said the government needed to know what informed such decision; whether the management of NIGCOMSAT actually demanded such funds from the National Assembly outside the budget the President presented.

He said, “We are still negotiating the funding for NIGCOMSAT-2. If we are lucky and get the loan, the fund for training is already embedded in the project cost.

“The National Assembly cancelled 28 out of the Ministry of Communications’ proposed 36 capital projects. The lawmakers also reduced the money for the remaining eight that they approved.”

The source added that investigations had revealed that many of the federal lawmakers were not involved in the production of the budget details presented to Buhari.

He added that not even all members of the Appropriation Committees of the two chambers were privy to the content.

On why Buhari would not sign the document in its present state, the source said, “It is dangerous for the President to sign now and negotiate later. The lawmakers may turn round later to accuse him of non-implementation of the budget and begin the process of removing him from office.”

Presidential spokesmen, Mr. Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, were not available for comment on Monday as they were on the President’s entourage to China.

Also, there were strong indications on Monday that the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly might remove the chairmen of their appropriation committees following the embarrassment their work on the 2016 budget was causing the nation.

A presiding officer of the Senate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives were no longer comfortable with the tension and anxiety that the issue had continued to generate.

He explained that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, might be removed from the committees this week over their alleged poor handling of the situation.

The presiding officer from the northern part of the country said both Saraki and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, expressed shock and disappointment over the ways both appropriation committee chairmen carried out their duties.

He said, “We have reports that both Goje and Jibrin, in most cases, sat and carried out unilateral decisions on the budget and even sometimes invite heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies for briefings without involving the chairmen of the respected committees in charge of the MDAs.

“Obviously, we in the leadership of the National Assembly are convinced that both Goje and Jibrin have personal issues which they wanted to exhibit through the budget process. People have even drawn our attention to their public statements in recent times.

“First, it was Goje, who condemned the inclusion of N500bn welfare scheme of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government in the 2016 budget, describing it as ‘unimplementable’ and therefore called for its suspension till next year.

“We also watched Jibrin on national television this morning (Monday), calling the executive liars, who prepared ‘unimplementable’ budget, yet had the audacity to blame the legislature for their inefficiency.

“We are convinced that the two appropriation heads are on the verge of setting the executive and the legislature on a serious collision course and we would have to stop that before it happens.”

http://www.punchng.com/budget-heads-may-roll-in-govt-parastatals-agencies/[/b]

Ok

Buhari please we need even tail should roll

Oya na...we dey wait to roll am back

I guess when I read the budget on saturday

Seen a viral screenshot of Jibrin's text message apologising to committee members for "forgetting to get back" to them about the content of the budget sent back to the executives...

4bn was slashed from Ministry of Health's budget & added to CCB's budget...

Funds for Vaccines for very sick & vulnerable people & to protect children from infant mortality was given to CCB... even unrepentant haters of Nigeria & good tidings will find it hard to defend this travesty.

A new twist gets added to this budget debacle everyday. With the way things stand, the budget might not be signed until next year! One would have expected that a legislature dominated by the same party men as the President would have made such thing a walk in the park. What is done seamlessly in other climes has become a hill to climb here.

This budget matter na till August.. After Ramadan.

I think heads should start rolling on issues like this in Nigeria.that way, every politicians will be mindful of his or her actions while carrying out its responsibilities for this country.

There should be someone to take the fall whenever there is a failure.

The same National Assembly that told the Executive that "Enough is Enough" will turn around to blame the chairmen of the various committee. this APC taught they are talking to children simply because they were able to deceive majority with their change mantras. some Nigerians might be a fool but not all Nigerians are fools please.

modath:


Seen a viral screenshot of Jibrin's text message apologising to committee members for "forgetting to get back" to them about the content of the budget sent back to the executives...

4bn was slashed from Ministry of Health's budget & added to CCB's budget...

Funds for Vaccines for very sick & vulnerable people & to protect children from infant mortality was given to CCB... even unrepentant haters of Nigeria & good tidings will find it hard to defend this travesty.

Which of the several accounts of events should we believe? By the way, could you kindly post the viral screenshot of Jibrin's message? It is viral yet many have not seen it. Isn't that curious? As for the slashed budget of the Ministry of Health, you are only trying to elicit an ebbing support for a failing president.

bejeiodus:
Which of the several accounts of events should we believe? By the way, could you kindly post the viral screenshot of Jibrin's message? It is viral yet many have not seen it. Isn't that curious? As for the slashed budget of the Ministry of Health, you are only trying to elicit an ebbing support for a failing president.

The best way to bust a lie is to counter with fact.When you are ready & willing, you'd know where to "search" to find what you require.....

No one needs to drum up support,neither does liking the person of Bubu anyone's headache anymore, to each his own!

Na Oyingbo market, cares not about absentees!!!

modath:


The best way to bust a lie is to counter with fact.When you are ready & willing, you'd know where to "search" to find what you require.....

No one needs to drum up support,neither does liking the person of Bubu anyone's headache anymore, to each his own!

Na Oyingbo market, cares not about absentees!!!

Continue to feign ignorance of the truth that you know. When you are also ready to face facts and admit the incompetence of the administration you stoutly support, then we can find a common ground to discuss issues objectively.

modath:


The best way to bust a lie is to counter with fact.When you are ready & willing, you'd know where to "search" to find what you require.....

No one needs to drum up support,neither does liking the person of Bubu anyone's headache anymore, to each his own!

Na Oyingbo market, cares not about absentees!!!

So we can tentatively call this the 4th budget or what?

This is another incidence of budget padding meanwhile the perpetrators of the 1sr budget padding saga are yet to have their "heads roll"..

Lemme grab some popcorn and my occulus rift...
It's gonna be an immersive movie

From buhari party nomination till now, Corruption trails this administration like a stubborn fly.

bejeiodus:
Continue to feign ignorance of the truth that you know. When you are also ready to face facts and admit the incompetence of the administration you stoutly support, then we can find a common ground to discuss issues objectively.

Even if truth is a dick and fucking some people, they will deny it in public yet moan to ecstasy under the sheets.

bejeiodus:
Continue to feign ignorance of the truth that you know. When you are also ready to face facts and admit the incompetence of the administration you stoutly support, then we can find a common ground to discuss issues objectively.

Lagos-Calabar Rail Project: New Controversy Between Arms Of Nigerian Government Over 2016 Budget

SaharaReporters spoke to several players in the controversy and discovered that the federal government did not initially include the project in the budget proposals.

The Minister for Budget and Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, told our reporter at the weekend that the government included the project in the 'amended budget' and passed it to the Standing Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Also, a presidency source who did not want to be named said after the federal government had included Lagos-Calabar in its proposal, the Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi was sent to meet with the Senate Committees on Land Transport and Appropriations.

The Senate Committee on Land Transportation is headed by Gbenga Ashafa from Ogun State while Senator Danjuma Goje heads the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. Goje was said to have been lukewarm towards the rail project, asking instead to meet Amaechi privately at home. It was not clear if he eventually met with Amaechi.

The House chairman on Appropriations, Jibrin Abdulmunin told SaharaReporters emphatically that the federal government did not include Lagos-Calabar rail in 2016 budget, and that he found himself saddled with handling the final outcome of the budget appropriations after the standing committees handed their recommendations to him.

He asserted that neither the Goje-led Senate Appropriations Committee nor Senator Ashafa’s Committee on Land Transportation sent any recommendations to his committee to include the Lagos-Calabar rail in the budget. In tweets in response to claims by members of the federal executive that National Assembly deliberately removed the project from the budget, Jibrin stated that they “found N54b floating” in the Ministry of Transportation budget and decided to allocate it to Lagos-Kano rail, an airport security project, and the rest given to the Baro Inland Port project in Niger state.

Also at the weekend, the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, released a series of text messages apparently targeted at Saharareporters affirming that the executive did not include the Lagos-Calabar rail in the budget.

Further investigations by SaharaReporters however showed that the Standing Committees did receive an amended budget that included the project.

Senator Gbenga Ashafa who initially sent his legislative aide to brief SaharaReporters later spoke to us by phone confirming that the Senate Committees received an amended budget asking to have the Lagos-Calabar Railway rail included in the budget. He said he even jokingly asked where the Lagos end would terminate.

The Senator later issued a press statement in which he affirmed what he had earlier told SaharaReporters.

In the course of our investigations, we subsequently obtained a text message sent by Abdulmunin Jubril, the House of Representatives Chairman on Appropriations, in which he provided an update to leaders of all the Standing Committee leaders, and asking them to stand by him in case the executive fought back because he had included and removed some items from the budget.

http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/11/lagos-calabar-rail-project-new-controversy-between-arms-nigerian-government-over-2016

Politics is the bane to Nigeria's progress.

Roll to where?

Nigeria!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good to see more scrutiny re Budget.

Hope this is sustained....

What do they want to do with the money and projects that they are removing?
It is time for us to begin to call those representing us to order.
They are there for us not for their pockets.

This is ridiculous, how can some group of senators just unilaterally utter the budget for their own selfish gain, I don't blame those who say this country is a big zoo and the leaders are the animal, may God help us...

Baba is simply messing with fire and if care is not taken, he'll get burnt badly.

What the hell is he keeping some of these remnants of PDP in office for? They are there for one thing and one thing only- carry out orders from Wadata Plaza!! They are the proverbial weavels inside our beans.

Baba, take a second to read a few lines in the 48 Laws of Power: when you defeat an enemy, CRUSH HIM COMPLETELY making sure he NEVER rises again!

In the Casino, De Niro narrated somthing about his friend's character: when you beat Frankie with a fist, he comes back with a bat. When you beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun. When you beat him with a gun, you better kill him, because he'll keep coming back until one of you is DEAD!

That is the nature of PDP. If you don't crush them completely, they'd keep coming back until either you kill them or they kill you!

A word is enough for the wise Baba.

No head will roll anywhere. APC are hands and legs deep in the scam.

A top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, told one of our correspondents that the probe had become imperative because some top shots were suspected to have colluded with some members of the National Assembly to produce a budget that would be difficult to implement.

How long will this confusion last?

Head will roll threat will continue for 4 years and nothing will be achieved.

They will blame Saraki & PDP for everything.

Suddenly, governance and power generation are turning "Rocket Science 808", doctoral level things.

budget padded, president investigate. Budget missing, president investigate. Budget reappear, president investigate. Projects removed from budget, president investigate. Haba mana, na investigative president we elect? we go de on top one issue 4years go come pass? these heads that may role are working class I guess. is this the plan from the start? create avenue for sack, sack as many as possible, and employ as many as possible. they forgot that -10000 + 10000 equals 0.