Press Release
May 6, 2016

#Budget2016: Saraki Assures Nigerians of Adequate Oversight

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has commended Nigerians for their patience while awaiting presidential assent to the 2016 Appropriation Act and promised that the National Assembly will ensure its proper implementation through diligent oversight.

Saraki who today (Friday) joined Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other top government officials in witnessing the signing of the budget into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, said the responsibility is now that of both the executive and the legislature to ensure that the objectives and goals of the budget are duly realized.

He called on ministers, heads of departments and agencies to hit the ground running with the implementation of the various provisions made in the budget so that the expectations of the people can be fulfilled.

"On our own part as members of the National Assembly, we will closely monitor the implementation of the budget by providing effective oversight. We will also ensure that all necessary laws that will aid the transformation of the contents of the budget into practical policies, projects and programmes that will directly have positive impact on Nigerians will be put in place.

"That is why we have started the amendment of the Public Procurement Act to ensure that a substantial percentage of the money to be spent in the budget are made available to Nigerians through government patronage of Made-in-Nigeria goods and services."

The Senate President thanked Nigerians for their continued support for the present administration and promised that now that the budget has been signed into law people will start seeing the positive impact on the economy and their standard of living.

Saraki restated the National Assembly's commitment to early passage of subsequent budgets since the President had promised earlier presentation.

End

Signed:

Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve all former governors in his cabinet of their duties and appoint technocrats to run his change agenda if wants to succeed in attracting foreign investment into the country.
Ex-Governors in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet include Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi as well as Kayode Fayemi.

CNPP gave the advice in a statement issued in Abuja, which was signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu.


According to the CNPP, unless the former governors serving in his cabinet were removed, the image of the regime will remain tainted with corruption, his anti graft war not withstanding.

CNPP recalled that some of the former state executives left their states with empty treasury, leading to the bailout loan by the Buhari administration just to enable them pay salary arrears of their workforce.

“For President Muhammadu Bujhari to succeed in his change agenda, all former governors in his cabinet must be sacked to create room for technocrats to run his government if he must succeed.

“Some former governors serving in this government not only left their respective states with empty treasury but also in heavy debts such that it took Mr President’s bailout fund for salary arrears of state workers to be paid.


“The states were so indebted that fillers from the state indicate that the bailout fund was not enough to clear salary arrears in some states.

“It is imperative that Mr President relieves the former governors of their positions and appoint technocrats to give the administration a fresh face as their presence in the government has left it tainted with corruption.”

The statement also reminded President Buhari that foreign investors he was labouring to attract will not come as most of them had the records of some of the former governors that ran their states aground.

“It will amount to effort in futility for the President to be labouring to attract investors as they will not entrust their hard-earned resources to well known bad managers.

“This is the reason the Buhari government will be one year next month, yet the regime has nothing to show for it except hardship and more hardship across the country despite the change mantra”, the statement read.

Labels sacked staff ‘ghost workers’


Between September 2015 and last month, the Federal Government is alleged to have secretly sacked more than 30,000 staff of ministries and agencies.

According to sources, those sacked were purportedly labelled ‘ghost workers’, even as the government declared that it has saved as much as $15 billion after removing these ‘ghost workers’.

Investigation carried out by Nigerian Pilot Saturday revealed that majority of those sacked were staff recruited between mid 2013 and April 2015.

Nigerian Pilot Saturday investigation revealed that majority of those sacked as ghost workers were actually authentic staff of the ministries and agencies where they were purportedly found to be collecting salaries illegally.

Our findings established that the sacked staff were those employed in some of the replacement exercises for lower and medium level staff that may not have required going through the Federal Character Commission.

It was equally suspected that some of those laid off were those recruited by political appointees and directors by way of favour and political patronage.

In another case, last October the salaries of some staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were stopped because they were alleged to be ghost workers. However, investigation revealed that these workers had issues with their BVN, which was also not entirely their fault.

In one of such cases, a staff took up the panel and it was realised that the staff in question had filled a comprehensive data including his correct BVN details, but somehow these details were wrongly entered and submitted to the Office of the Accountant General, which labelled him a ‘ghost worker’.