A former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, recently revealed that some lawmakers manipulated line items in the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
Amb Hussaini Coomassie shares his views on the budget padding scandal. The author tenders his unreserved apology to President Muhammadu Buhari.
I may not have cried out at the time but I must confess I was really very angry with President Muhammadu Buhari back then when the budget was taking too long to be passed. At a time, while rejecting to sign the budget, he travelled out of the country looking as though he was insensitive and high-handed. Now I know better; now I am fully convinced that the man Buhari is God sent and the right man at the right time in the history of our great country.
Reading the full statement of the Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, detailing how they padded the budget with well over N200b, I must confess it made me feel dizzy and dazed at the same time. Just imagine that these sorts of things have been going on for ages, I feel like vomiting. It’s no wonder then that ex-president Obasanjo was so vocal in calling all legislatures thieves years ago. They didn’t bother to take him on because they know he knows them and can expose more. No doubt, if it wasn’t for Buhari and his eagle-eyed deputies, the same scenario would have played out itself and we will still be looking at those rogues in the NA as saints, whereas they have milked us dry.
It is with this background that I tender my unreserved apology to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari. If there is one thing he needs, it is our full support in what he and his vice. Prof. Osinbajo are doing to put our nation in the right track after such a mindless banditry committed against it by the “people of the umbrella”.
Mr. President, I am sorry for not giving you the benefit of the doubt; for not believing totally the reasons for your refusal to sign the budget earlier; for not fully grasping the fact that you know the behind the scenes more than we do; for not acknowledging that you are doing it for our collective good. Mr. President, once again I am sorry!
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of YabaLeftOnline.com
