ABUJA — For the first time late Tuesday night, President
Muhammadu Buhari, broke his silence on padding in the
2016 budget proposal currently before the National
Assembly, vowing to deal decisively with the masterminds.
The President also said that with the drastic fall in oil prices
in the international market, Nigeria was returning to
agriculture and mining development to boost the economy.

President Buhari, who spoke while addressing the Nigerian
community in Saudi Arabia where he is current on an official visit, admitted that the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly late December 2015 had been utterly doctored but condemned the distortion in the document by entrenched interests he vowed to deal with.

He revealed that the Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Mr. Udo Udoma, did an excellent job of knitting
the budget together, but regretted that the document was
distorted by unknown persons.
The President said the unauthorised alterations had
completely changed the document from the one he
presented to the National Assembly, vowing to severely
punish anyone found culpable.
President Buhari said: “The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a military governor, petroleum minister, military Head of State and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund.
“Never had I heard the words “budget padding”. Our
Minister of Budget and National Planning did a great job
with his team. The Minister became almost half his size
during the time, working night and day to get the budget
ready, only for some people to pad it.
“What he gave us was not what was finally being debated. It
is very embarrassing and disappointing. We will not allow
those who did it to go unpunished.”
The President also assured members of the Nigerian
community that his administration was working diligently
to fulfil its campaign promises, particularly on security,
unemployment and corruption.
Reaffirming his government’s zero tolerance for corruption,
President Buhari said the war against graft was a
monumental task that he was determined to tackle
successfully.
“We have zero tolerance for corruption and other unethical
practices. We will deal decisively with anybody found
wanting,” he promised members of the Nigerian
community.
The President also used the opportunity to brief Nigerians
in Saudi Arabia on his administration’s efforts to end the
Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria.
“Our armed forces have done a great job of dealing
decisively with Boko Haram. We are collaborating with our
neighbours in the operations of the Multinational Joint Task
Force to handle security threats in the sub-region and we
have significantly destroyed the capacity of the
insurgents,” he said.
He also spoke on efforts being made to diversify the
Nigerian economy, stressing that more opportunities were
now open for local and foreign investors in the country.
On the drastic fall in oil prices in the international market,
President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria was returning
to agriculture and mining to cushion its effect on the
economy.
He regretted that the country had largely depended on oil,
stressing that current harsh economic realities were an
indication that the economy needed to be urgently
diversified.
President Buhari, who stated this at a meeting with leading
members of the Council of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of
Commerce and Industry in Riyadh, also on Tuesday night,
said his administration would welcome greater foreign
investment in support of its efforts to rapidly diversify the
Nigerian economy.
He noted that aside from oil, Nigeria was gifted with arable
lands and mineral resources that were waiting to be
tapped, and urged the businessmen to take advantage of
the opportunity.
“With the downturn in the global prices of oil, we now have
to prospect our solid minerals. We have to return to
agriculture. Mining and agriculture are our hopes now.
‘’We will welcome investments in these areas. We will
appreciate an inflow of more resources and expertise to
help us achieve our objective of economic diversification,”
the President said.
Similarly, governors of Osun, Ogun, Katsina, Borno, and
Zamfara states who were part of the President’s delegation,
took turns to address the Saudi Arabian businessmen on
investment possibilities in their states, assuring them of
good returns.
The Chairman of the Council of Saudi Arabian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil, said
agriculture was a very important area of investment for its
members, adding that they were already in Brazil, the
United States of America and Sudan, where they had huge
farms.
Declaring that they were willing to invest in Nigeria, Dr. Al
Zamil said the Saudis were the leading investors in Egypt,
Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/padded-budget-im-embarrassed-says-buhari/

Lalasticlala , Mynd44

If any Nigerian try to protect those criminal behind the budget scandal from being prosecuted, I won't hesitate to give those criminal and those protecting them thesame treatment. Anyone who is covering a criminal is commiting crime also.

God Bless Nigeria

Saraki we have seen your handwork
Naija will be great again

This man has good plans for Nigeria, my prayer is that God shouldhelp him and d country in all ways.





Wetin Aregbe Rascal go do there? That tout! Teachers are hungry at home, retirees are dying, doctors are on strike, market women are complainig bitterly, secondary school students are protesting here and there, yet, Baba Kabiru pretends he is deaf. #onebadapple

Muhammadu Buhari, broke his silence on padding in the
2016 budget proposal currently before the National
Assembly, vowing to deal decisively with the masterminds.

Saraki and co,I hope you heard the people's general.

Thought lie Mohamed said there was nothing wrong with d budget?

Mr president should have been vigilant, knowing the kind of people he is working with. I don care politicians!

ok

Tired of reading lies from d zombie master. Tell u something new. I mean new lies. We r tired of d old same bullshit

why is he embarrased? Is he not a Nigerian? We Nigerians odikwa too smart(very dubious)

Mr. Lai Muhammed told the world the budget was not padded. Now his principal said it was. Na
waoh

Mr DULLARD is embarrassed in saudia arabia












U can't kill a rat in ur hus at anodas mans hus

Any country he goes he always make fun of his self

_______'SINCE I CAME INTO THIS GOR-MENT THIS IS mY FIRST TIME OF HEARING 'PADDING'_____

When it all started, I knew it was done my the enemies of our development, it was done by those who wish to prove to Nigerians how APC is the same with PDP. but God pass them. We shall overcome and we must bring lasting CHANGE to Nigerians, we have promised to fulfill our campaign promises.

Ride on PMB.
Ride on the Best president so far

Vanpascore:
This man has good plans for Nigeria, my prayer is that God should help him and d country in all ways

Amen!

How will you know that the budget has being padded when you jump from country to country

Minister for budgeting should have resigned. He is clearly not qualified. This is something he should have reviewed and verified with submitted budgetary allocations from all ministries. Something doesn't smell right here.

A significant and effective change be visible when the former and the latter is placed side by side.

The Presidency should ensure that there will be no further delay in presenting the actual budget, and also the Senate should enable a speedy review of the budget, because there is fire on the mountain.

I have read couple of time in forum that buhari is an illiterate....... I think am agreeing to that statement having appended his signature on the budget without scrutiny.

Nice one PMB

February is coming to an end and nothing has been done yet about this budget issue. But seriously, does it mean that buhari and Co did not go through the budget before presenting it at the first time? APC should be fast, people are suffering. Everyday one same story. Nawa o.