The Plateau government has warned people in the state not to stop to help anybody that pretends to be in pain.
The government said that this is the new strategy being employed by members of Boko Haram, who it said, are now targeting the state.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Malam Muhammad Nazif, who gave this warning in a statement, asked members of the public to be wary of persons pretending to be in pain and in need of help.
“The public is advised to be wary of those that attract public sympathy by pretending to be in pain and need help, thereby attracting a large crowd to the scene.
“Their intention is to detonate explosive device and cause harm to citizens who are moved by sympathy to assist them,’’ he said.
The commissioner also advised the people to alert security personnel immediately they suspect any foul play. [myad]
South Africa’s parliament is expected to debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, after the country’s top court ruled that the president had violated the constitution.
According to the National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbete: “the debate on that motion has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, anti-apartheid veteran, Ahmed Kathrada has already joined opposition leaders in calling for Zuma’s resignation.
The South African president had ignored orders from the public prosecutor to return some of the $16 million in state funds that he used to renovate his mansion in Nkandla situated in KwaZulu-Natal province.
On Friday, 73-year-old Zuma in a televised address, apologized and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution.
Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition party Democratic Alliance , tabled the motion to impeach Zuma, who is facing arguably the biggest scandal since he took office in 2009. He has fended off accusations of corruption, influence peddling and rape in the past.
The impeachment proceedings are unlikely to be successful because of the Africa National Congress party’s strong majority in parliament, but the judicial rebuke may strengthen anti-Zuma factions within the ruling party to press for change.
The unanimous ruling by the 11-judge constitutional court also criticized parliament for passing a resolution that purported to nullify Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings on Zuma’s private residence.
“The judgment makes sound, balanced and critical findings,” Speaker Mbete told journalists. [myad]
Hope is rising for the return of millions of internally displaced Nigerians to their homes and communities as the planning for the rebuilding of the North-Eastern states affected by insurgency has advanced significantly.
Last week, the pre-financing assessment jointly carried out by the federal and states governments alongside the global partners: the United Nations, World Bank and the European Union was completed at a workshop in Abuja.
The global partners who had signed a tripartite agreement to facilitate the assessment are now expected to support the federal government in the financing of the North East reconstruction, including an offer by the World Bank to make available $800 million towards the rebuilding.
There are also clear indications from the global partners to do more in terms putting in place an institutional framework to rebuild, arranging financing even from other development agencies and additional sources.
The assessment and validation exercises completed in Nigeria’s North-East region have revealed the quantum of damage and the requirements to address the post- conflict recovery. For instance, while the extent of damage was put at about $9B, the assessment revealed that over $6B would be needed for immediate and near term stabilization and recovery of the region.
During the final aspects of the assessment late last week in Abuja, international development partners and donors reiterated their commitments towards ensuring that key findings of the assessments are implemented.
This re-assurance was secured after the completion of the 2-day validation and consensus building workshop at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, convened by the Federal Government, World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations in conjunction with representatives of the six affected states to review findings and chart way forward.
Specifically the joint efforts of the federal and state governments with the global partners would now be directed to prioritizing the needed interventions and projects, arranging their sequence and coming up with an action plan.
For instance, the Sector Manager, Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, Mr. Idrissa Dia said the physical participation of the Bank at the validation workshop last week in Abuja is an affirmation that the global financial institution is encouraged by the initial feedbacks on the findings of the recovery and assessment.
He then reaffirmed the Bank’s commitments and support towards the overall success of the planned interventions. Mr. Dia said the World Bank is set to mobilize other bodies in the World Bank Group and partners that might be interested beyond the existing donors on the project. According to the World Bank representative at the event, “In line with the magnitude of the needs we are confronted with, we would like to also mobilize beyond the set of donors here,” he said adding that there are other big players that would be able to come into play in support of the forthcoming interventions.
On his part, the European Union’s Acting Head of Cooperation, Mr Juan Casla expressed satisfaction with the findings of the assessment saying with the leadership displayed in the process by the Federal Government, the different states and the international donor agencies, the EU is now ready to discuss the pledges it made and move forward with implementation in collaboration with other partners and the Government of Nigeria, both at the Federal and State levels.
“These findings provide shared understanding between the Government of Nigeria and its humanitarian and development partners on a set of priotized, sequenced interventions and the EU as a member of the International partnership involved in this assessment is ever- committed towards ensuring the implementation of these findings,” Casla stated.
Mr. Casla said from his experience in this type of interventions, he has seen that the team led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Marian Masha has been able to put in place a thorough assessment in a complex and challenging situation in the North East.
According to the UN representative at the event, Mrs. Jean Gough, the United Nations is pleased with the successes of the assessment, harping on the readiness of the World body to provide technical and other humanitarian support towards achieving the goals of the post-assessment phase of the planning.
The RPBA findings have estimated that a sum of about $9 Billion Dollars will be required for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures in the in the six North-East States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
The findings also revealed that the six states would need $6.4 billion to undertake recovery efforts to cushion the devastation inflicted on the North-East Region between 2011 and 2015.
The assessments were carried out under the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability & Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.
Dr Mariam Masha had disclosed that Borno state was worse hit by the crisis with a loss of $6 billion. According to her, the region suffered damages worth $3 billion in housing alone while it also suffered damages in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.
According to her “what this process brings home is that it helps to create a platform to harmonise resources, to coordinate better, support and planning at the federal and state levels, and support also from international donors and partners.”
The RPBA findings also revealed that Yobe and Adamawa states were next in devastation, adding that the destruction in other parts of the region is enormous but with less gravity.
Dr. Masha added that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation.
“Crisis recovery in the North-East is a priority of the Nigerian Government and this has been demonstrated by the ownership and leadership of the recovery assessment process, it has helped in securing the continued support of the partners, donors and other critical stakeholders. The plan and implementation strategy are critical to the success of the recovery efforts. It is not so much about the amount of financial resources that are available, but how we are able to utilize the resources and the capacity to put them to use”, Dr. Masha remarked.
The Three–volume report of the Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) recommended a 2-phase strategic plan of two years for stabilization and a recovery phase of 2 years to restore the North-East to progress and development. The two phases of stabilization and recovery are fluid and will run concurrently, covering such areas as agriculture, housing, transportation and education over the period.
The Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) is the process that assesses the physical, social and economic impacts of the crisis in the North-East, resulting in a report to guide the process of stabilization in the region through a variety of recovery strategies.
These strategies will help reduce suffering in affected communities, restore a sense of normalcy and regain the trust of people in the region.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had in January unveiled this assessment programme which is a joint, high-level collaboration between the Government of Nigeria and three global development partners – the World Bank, EU and the UN – aimed at supporting Government in its short and medium term efforts towards peace building and sustainable recovery in the North-East region of the country.
Akande is Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. [myad]
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari not to ignore Aviation sector in the nation’s development. The President of the ICAO, Dr. Bernard O. Aliyu who paid a courtesy visit on President Buhari today (Monday) at the State House, Abuja, said Aviation industry is the fastest way towards economic development apart from serving as image-making for the country. “Civil aviation is a catalyst for economic development. The level of aviation development in any country mirrors the economic development of that country.” Dr. Aliyu, who is the Nigerian-born ICAO president commended President Buhari for strides on anti- corruption, insisting that Nigeria needs to pay more attention to development of civil aviation. He however pledged to support the development of the aviation industry in Nigeria, urging the country to improve on training and capacity development, aviation security, aerodromes and air navigation, runways, control towers, terminal buildings, among others. President Buhari agreed that if Ethiopia is sustained largely by her airline industry, “we have greater potentials here. But we must move out, engage with the rest of the world, as we need to re-establish the integrity of this country. We need to rebuild this country again.” He promised that Nigeria needs to work on her potentials, so that “we don’t remain permanently at the level of potentials.” [myad]
Ahead of the Chairmanship and Councillorship elections for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), scheduled for Saturday, 9, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will begin accreditation of Journalists on Wednesday 6th April at 10:00 a.m. A statement from INEC said that the accreditation will take place at the penthouse of its Headquarters Annex II, No. 10 Blantyre Street, off Ademola Adetokumbo Street, Abuja. The statement said advised Journalists who wish to be accredited to cover the elections to bring along with them letters of introduction from their organizations and two passport photographs. They are also expected to identify themselves with their corporate identity cards. [myad]
The battle between Ecobank Nigeria Limited and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc over an alleged 3.5billion debt has shifted to the Supreme Court with Ecobank asking that a Court of Appeal verdict be set aside Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Lagos last December 4, froze Honeywell’s accounts following an application by Ecobank’s lawyer, Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN) of the Insolvency Forte. The judge later varied the order by allowing Honeywell to withdraw N15million per week pending hearing of the suit, which Honeywell appealed against. The Court of Appeal ruled in Honeywell’s favour and discharged the restraining order. In the judgment delivered by Justice Abimbola Obaseki, the Court of Appeal set aside Justice Yunusa’s order on the ground of abuse of Order 4 of winding up rules. The Court of Appeal held that Justice Yunusa made the ex-parte order without notice to Honeywell, adding that it violated the rules guiding winding-up petitions. According to her, the rules state that every application in such a petition shall be by motion on notice to the person against whom the order was to be made. “Justice of the case demands that both sides be heard. The ruling of the Federal High Court is hereby set aside. The petition shall be assigned to another judge for necessary action. Parties shall bear their costs.” Justice Idris had on August 10, made an order of interim injunction restraining the bank from publishing the plaintiffs’ name as debtors and ordered parties to maintain status quo pending hearing of the plaintiffs’ suit. But Honeywell said while the suit was pending, Ecobank filed other suits before other judges in a bid to recover its debt from Honeywell Group and its chairman Oba Otudeko. Honeywell’s lawyers, therefore, filed Form 48 and Form 49, urging the court to hold the bank in contempt. But Justice Idris struck out the contempt proceedings on the basis that no proper service was effected on the alleged contemnors. Ecobank has opted to approach the Supreme Court to set aside the entire judgment/decision of the Court of Appeal on the ground that the appellate court erred in law in setting aside the ex-parte orders made by Justice Yunusa. The bank is urging the Supreme Court to hold that the Winding-up Rules did not outlaw the issuance of ex-parte orders, among other ground. It said that the Winding-up Rules did not provide for ex-parte orders and that it was provided for in the court’s Civil Procedure Rules. “The Winding-Up Rules is a subsidiary legislation and not elevated to the rank of a statute. Rule 4 of the Winding Up Rules only provided for applications inter-parties and thus created a lacuna as it relates to ex-parte applications which can only be filled by the Civil Procedure Rules of the court,” the bank said. Ecobank also appealed against the dismissal of its appeal challenging the jurisdiction of Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in establishing a customer banker’s relationship in a related case. The Court of Appeal had held that there was a banker-customer relationship between the parties. However, the bank is praying the Supreme Court to hold that the Court of Appeal occasioned a gross miscarriage of justice by allowing the respondents the benefits of an “in-principle” agreement they were never party to. Ecobank is also praying the Supreme Court to decide whether it was wrong to seek redress before other courts and whether it amounted to contempt of court. “The learned justices of the Court of Appeal erred in law and occasioned a gross miscarriage of justice by failing to determine whether the learned trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, had power to even hear or consider the committal proceedings,” the bank said. Ecobank has also urged the Court of Appeal to grant an order of injunction restraining Honeywell from taking advantage of the order discharging the interim/varied order pending the determination of the case by the Supreme Court. The bank said the interim order was made to preserve Honeywell’s funds in some banks, namely Zenith, Access, Citibank, Standard Chartered, Wema, GTBank, Fidelity and Ecobank until the case is determined. “There is an urgent need to preserve the res (subject-matter) of the appeal to avoid foisting a situation of helplessness on the Supreme Court, a superior court of record,” Ecobank said. [myad]
The recent revelation that President Buhari was only presented with the summary of the 2016 Budget shows clearly that the monster of corruption will not die easily. I am told that in the past, legislators hide some juicy items to which they allocate large sums of money under allocations to ministries or parastatals and then approach the relevant government agency after the president’s accent to ‘deliver’ their share of the loot. This time, they more than met their match in Buhari who obviously had his ears to the ground. If there is no intent to defraud, how would legislators announce to the nation that they had finished work on the budget and submitted same to the president, only to now plead to be given two weeks to present the details? How did they arrive at the total figures earlier presented? If there was no fraudulent intent, wouldn’t it just be a matter of opening one drawer and bringing out the details upon which their totals were arrived at? The National Assembly passed the 2016 budget of N6.06trillion, down from the N6.077billion proposed by the executive on March 23. Wasn’t the approved N6.06 trillion based on easily retrievable figures? The ugly truth staring us in the face is that there were a lot of questionable allocations which the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives cannot defend. Now, they need time to tidy up the mess and come up with a set of figures they think can stand public scrutiny. I am not impressed by all the excuses given by the Senator Ndume (Senate Chair) and Jibrin Abdulmumin (Reps Chair), both of whom have been accused by even their colleagues of hoarding information regarding the full details of the budget. It is now known that most of the legislators did not have access to the full details of the budget they passed and are embarrassed that they have been made to look silly before the public. Senator Ndume himself has confessed that he was merely following the PDP template. In his words: “During the PDP regime, the budget would be passed and sent to the president for assent without the details. The details of the budget would then be transmitted to the president later. This time around, the president is saying that he cannot sign the budget without the details. It is not a big deal; the details of the budget will be transmitted to the president shortly. The budget is about 1800 pages in three volumes. The chairmen of the Appropriation Committee of the two chambers will go through the details page by page and sign them. Some time you have to print out the copies for them to sign.” Hogwash! Interpretation: Sign first, details later. It is difficult to imagine something more opaque. Anyone with half a brain knows that as far as corruption goes, the devil is in the details. And the fact that the Appropriation Committees of both the Senate and the House of Reps tried to pull a fast one on us speaks volumes about the quality of individuals at the head of strategic committees in the National Assembly. I think Ndume and his colleagues have only succeeded in exposing the soft underbelly of the National Assembly when it comes to issues of probity. If they can get away with it, they will attempt to pull wool over our eyes. Some legislators allege that Senate President Saraki and House Speaker Dogara are complicit with the Appropriation Committee. They are miffed that the Budget matter was handled as if it was some secret cult. Some privileged members had access to the details. The plebeians among the legislators didn’t. Out of ignorance, or possibly out of mischief, some people have been calling on President Buhari to sign the budget as presented without details and let the bazar begin. But a budget without details is like a ‘one chance’ kabukabu. How do we hold the government accountable if, from the onset, we don’t know the specific details of the appropriation? Remember, this same budget had suffered ‘padding’ shortly after the president presented it to the National Assembly. There was so much heat generated by that discovery. Now, the budget has been passed with undisclosed details. Gladly, the conspirators have met their match in Buhari who recently declared: “I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, ministry by ministry; to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission.” Buhari’s position on this matter is right. And he deserves the support of all and sundry. He should go over the details presented to him with a fine tooth comb and satisfy himself that there are no ghost items before appending his signature. Once Buhari signs the document, it becomes law and he has to stand by it. We want to hold this administration accountable. We shall monitor the implementation of the budget every step of the way and criticize the government when adjudged necessary. But first, let’s straighten out the small matter of the details on which the figures of the Budget are based. Is that asking for too much? [myad]
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state has ordered the authority of University of Jalingo to suspend all staff the state employed from May 29, 2015 to date.
This was contained in a letter with a reference number MOE/S/34/169, signed by the state Commissioner for Education who was represented by Bala Fwadu.
The letter which was addressed on Monday to the registrar, Taraba State University, stated that the directive was with immediate effect.
Part of the content of the letter read thus: “His Excellency, the Executive Governor Arch. Darius Dickson Ishaku, has directed that all employment of staff in the University from 29th May, 2015 to date have been suspended.” No reason was given in the letter.
National Leader of All Progress Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described Nigeria as it is needs surgical operation in the hands of a very honest Nigeria for a better tomorrow. “The fact is that Nigerians do not want the importation of toothpicks to continue, we can make toothpicks out of our bamboo trees. Nigeria does not want to import rice or plastic. Nigeria does not want to continue in the direction of the past 16 years. What did they leave behind in our account? Why should certain things that we bring into this country become our priority? Why do we have to import those things that we can produce? The country needs surgical operation in the hands of a very honest Nigeria.” Asiwaju Tinubu was addressing news men in Lagos. He added: “Nigerians are not impatient with the APC government; they just want to see the direction of the economic policy and want to be certain of the future. They want to be assured that we will not continue the leaderless, directionless and hopelessness of the past 16 years.” He blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the current fuel scarcity in the country, saying that the PDP destroyed Nigeria. The APC chieftain said the PDP refused to pursue what was necessary for the growth and development of the country. “We want to stay focused and redirect Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of 16 years. We are hearing comments from the PDP left and right. We are saying we want to clear the mess they created. For 16 good years, the PDP destroyed the country. We should not be lamenting over petrol queues today if they had seen what was necessary and done what was necessary for this country. “We can’t be emotional and live in self-denial. They should have done the Awolowo Road and the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. If they put priority on our railroad, if they put priority on electricity generation and distribution, we will not be in this mess today.” [myad]
Governor Ayodele Fayose is now jittery as the people who perpetuated the fraud that characterized the election that brought him into power are now facing the consequences of their action. Two senior army officers, Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh and the former spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Olajide Laleye, as well as other officers, indicted in the conduct of the elections have just been fired. They were found guilty by the Military Council that tried them. This is even as Governor Fayose has expressed fear that he is the target of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for his unrelenting criticism of the President’s policies. He added that the realisation made him to be cautious of his dealings in office. “I have started the construction of a flyover in Ado/Ikere Road for N5.7bn. I have also invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to be part of it, because I know I am a target of the current administration. “You may not like my face or my style. But take the message and leave the messenger. If they have anything against me, they would have published it I know. I prepare for my defence. I am fully prepared. “Criticising the President should not make me an enemy. We will sue the government. We learnt this from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is always in court either by proxy or direct. You cannot keep arresting my principal officers and members of my state House of Assembly.” It was learnt that the retirement of the senior officers was in connection with the recommendations of the panel set up by the Army authorities to look into allegations of professional misconduct against military personnel in the conduct of the June 14, 2014 governorship poll in Ekiti State and the 2015 general elections. The panel was also directed to investigate the roles played by the military officers who participated in the August, 2014 governorship election in Osun State. After the results of the Ekiti governorship election was released, where Fayose, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner, there were allegations that the Army personnel deployed in the state, led by Momoh, played active roles in an alleged rigging of the poll. An officer of the Nigerian Army, Captain Sagir Koli, who participated in the supervision of the poll, had leaked an audio recording of a meeting, featuring Fayose, Momoh, former Minister of State for Defence, Musliu Obanikoro; former Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Jelili Adesiyan and the PDP governorship candidate in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, among others, where the alleged rigging was hatched. The individuals had denied the rigging allegations. It was learnt that the Army council met in February to consider the recommendations of the panel, set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to investigate allegations of professional misconduct against its personnel in the last elections. The Board of Inquiry, led by the General Officer Commanding, 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Maj. Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, indicted some officers and recommended various degrees of sanctions for them in a report submitted to the Army chief on January 11, 2016. The Oyebade-led panel recommended the compulsory retirement of two officers from the Army, three others for loss of command and one for prosecution for receiving financial gratification. The panel recommended 15 officers to be put on the watch list and nine officers for investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Also, the panel said that six officers should face an audit panel and 62 officers (mostly of the rank of Major and below) should be given Letters of Displeasure and to appear before their respective GOCs for counseling. Oyebade had said 23 officers, over 100 soldiers and 62 civilians appeared before the panel which was constituted on October 20, 2015 “to investigate the alleged unprofessional and unethical conduct of some Nigerian Army personnel in Ekiti and Osun states’ governorship election in 2014 as well as in any other state in Nigeria, where other allegations of misconduct were made during the 2015 general elections.” Part of the committee’s terms of reference include: “to review the involvement of the Nigerian Army formations/units and its personnel in elections and other duties in aid of civil authority.” The Army authorities had said the investigation was designed “to prevent future unprofessional conduct by officers and men in the performance of their constitutional roles while strengthening Nigerian Army’s support to democratic values and structures.” [myad]
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The Plateau government has warned people in the state not to stop to help anybody that pretends to be in pain.
Nigeria Budget 2016 – The Devil Is In The Details! By Wole Olaoye
This time, they more than met their match in Buhari who obviously had his ears to the ground. If there is no intent to defraud, how would legislators announce to the nation that they had finished work on the
budget and submitted same to the president, only to now plead to be given two weeks to present the details?
How did they arrive at the total figures earlier presented? If there was no fraudulent intent, wouldn’t it just be a matter of opening one drawer and bringing out the details upon which their totals were arrived at? The National Assembly passed the 2016 budget of N6.06trillion, down from the N6.077billion proposed by the executive on March 23.
Wasn’t the approved N6.06 trillion based on easily retrievable figures?
The ugly truth staring us in the face is that there were a lot of questionable allocations which the Appropriation Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives cannot defend. Now, they need time to tidy up the mess and come up with a set of figures they think can stand public scrutiny.
I am not impressed by all the excuses given by the Senator Ndume (Senate Chair) and Jibrin Abdulmumin (Reps Chair), both of whom have been accused by even their colleagues of hoarding information regarding the full details of the budget. It is now known that most of the
legislators did not have access to the full details of the budget they passed and are embarrassed that they have been made to look silly before the public.
Senator Ndume himself has confessed that he was merely following the PDP template. In his words: “During the PDP regime, the budget would be passed and sent to the president for assent without the details. The details of the budget would then be transmitted to the president later.
This time around, the president is saying that he cannot sign the budget without the details. It is not a big deal; the details of the budget will be transmitted to the president shortly.
The budget is about 1800 pages in three volumes. The chairmen of the Appropriation Committee of the two chambers will go through the details page by page and sign them. Some time you have to print out the copies for them to sign.” Hogwash!
Interpretation: Sign first, details later. It is difficult to imagine something more opaque. Anyone with half a brain knows that as far as corruption goes, the devil is in the details. And the fact that the Appropriation
Committees of both the Senate and the House of Reps tried to pull a fast one on us speaks volumes about the quality of individuals at the head of strategic committees in the National Assembly.
I think Ndume and his colleagues have only succeeded in exposing the soft underbelly of the National Assembly when it comes to issues of probity. If they can get away with it, they will attempt to pull wool over our eyes.
Some legislators allege that Senate President Saraki and House Speaker Dogara are complicit with the Appropriation Committee. They are miffed that the Budget matter was handled as if it was some secret cult. Some privileged members had access to the details. The plebeians among the legislators didn’t.
Out of ignorance, or possibly out of mischief, some people have been calling on President Buhari to sign the budget as presented without details and let the bazar begin. But a budget without details is like a ‘one chance’ kabukabu. How do we hold the government accountable if, from the onset, we don’t know the specific details of the appropriation?
Remember, this same budget had suffered ‘padding’ shortly after the president presented it to the National Assembly.
There was so much heat generated by that discovery. Now, the budget has been passed with undisclosed details. Gladly, the conspirators have met their match in Buhari who recently declared: “I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, ministry by ministry; to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission.”
Buhari’s position on this matter is right. And he deserves the support of all and sundry. He should go over the details presented to him with a fine tooth comb and satisfy himself that there are no ghost items before appending his signature. Once Buhari signs the document, it becomes law and he has to stand by it.
We want to hold this administration accountable. We shall monitor the implementation of the budget every step of the way and criticize the government when adjudged necessary.
But first, let’s straighten out the small matter of the details on which the figures of the Budget are based. Is that asking for too much? [myad]