Reports went viral in the media that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the withdrawal of the 2016 national budget to reduce the N19 billion budgeted for the presidency.
Muhammadu Buhari
The presidency has denied the reports yesterday in a national daily that President Muhammadu Buhari had withdrawn the 2016 budget estimates that he presented to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015, describing it as untrue.
In the same vein, the Senate denied knowledge of the withdrawal, saying if there’s a need for adjustment in the budget, the president will merely send it to the National Assembly while it is being considered without any necessity for its withdrawal.
Speaking with journalists on behalf of the presidency at the National Assembly yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, said budget withdrawal was an official matter which could not be done in secret but could only be done through official correspondence between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
According to him, if there is any need for adjustment in the budget, it would be done at the background through the relevant committees after the second reading of the Appropriation Bill without any need for a withdrawal as claimed by the report.
In his bid to buttress his submission that the budget was not withdrawn, Enang told some National Assembly correspondents to come to his office and see the document lying intact.
He said: “To my knowledge, the budget as laid by Mr. President on the December 22, 2015 is still with the National Assembly and has not been withdrawn. If there is a withdrawal, there is always a communication and budget is not a sensitive thing that it cannot be dealt with behind the scene. It can be worked on behind the scene after second reading. After second reading, the different committees will work on the budget but it has not been read a second time so, it cannot be dealt with before then.”
Speaking with journalists on behalf of the presidency at the National Assembly yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, said budget withdrawal was an official matter which could not be done in secret but could only be done through official correspondence between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
According to him, if there is any need for adjustment in the budget, it would be done at the background through the relevant committees after the second reading of the Appropriation Bill without any need for a withdrawal as claimed by the report.
In his bid to buttress his submission that the budget was not withdrawn, Enang told some National Assembly correspondents to come to his office and see the document lying intact.
He said: “To my knowledge, the budget as laid by Mr. President on the December 22, 2015 is still with the National Assembly and has not been withdrawn. If there is a withdrawal, there is always a communication and budget is not a sensitive thing that it cannot be dealt with behind the scene. It can be worked on behind the scene after second reading. After second reading, the different committees will work on the budget but it has not been read a second time so, it cannot be dealt with before then.”
