Former Speaker, House
of Representatives, Mr Ghali Na’Abba, has called for proper
investigation of the role played by officials in the executive arm in
the current budget padding controversy.
Na'Abba
Na’Abba
Na’Abba made the call while answering questions from Energy
Correspondents, at a workshop organised by Kaduna Refining and
Petrochemical Company (KRPC) in Kano.
He said it was impossible for the budget to be padded without the
connivance of government officials.
“This stealing of funds cannot be possible without active connivance
with some members of the executive arm,“ he said.
On calls for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
to resign, Na’Abba said that the call was “unwarranted” as there was no
formal indictment of the speaker.
“According to my understanding, where the issue being referred to as
padding comes into play, is a situation where some members go behind and
add items of expenditure to what has already been agreed upon.
“For either stealing the funds or doing whatever they feel like doing
with it.
“So far, accusations are being traded amongst members of the house, but
no investigation has been conducted.
“On the call for the resignation of the Speaker, the question is, what
has the Speaker done to warrant his resignation?“
He called for full investigation to ascertain the level of involvement
of members of the House mentioned in the allegation before calling on
anyone to resign.
“I expect that for 16 years of return to democracy, Nigerians would have
understood the responsibilities of the National Assembly.
“For some weeks now, there has been controversy over what is called
padding.
“As far as I am concerned, the National Assembly has the responsibility
to pass the budget, approve it and allow the executive arm to execute
it.”
On whether padding constituted an offence, Na’Abba said, “It all depends
on what angle you look at it, I just told you that the responsibility
of appropriation belongs to the national assembly.
“If padding is seen as an offence, then it is when some members of the
national assembly decide to add items of expenditure through the back
door after the bill has been passed by the two legislative arms.
“It therefore behoves on Nigerians to decide who represent them in the
national assembly.’’`
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 30 selected Journalists
from the Kaduna Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ)
attended the three-day workshop, designed sharpen their skills in
reporting the Oil and Gas sector.(NAN)
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/budget-padding-not-possible-without-connivance-of-executive-arm-naabba/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/budget-padding-not-possible-without-connivance-of-executive-arm-naabba/
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