How the National Assembly perfected budget fraud under Jonathan - Falana

macfranc007 June 28, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Nurudeen Lawal

- Femi Falana (SAN) reacted to the ‘padding’ of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly

- He said the lawmakers’ action showed that they have become so bold in arrogance and impunity

- The human rights lawyer also recalled how the National Assembly perfected budget fraud under ex-President Jonathan

The human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, shares his views on the controversy trailing the 2018 national budget recently passed by the National Assembly and signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In an interview with The Punch, Falana said the lawmakers’ slashing of the 2018 budget and inserting their own projects indicated that they have “become so bold in arrogance and impunity.”

Asked about his reaction to the complaint President Muhammadu Buhari that the lawmakers cut a total of N347bn in the allocations to 4,700 projects in the 2018 budget and inserted 6,403 projects of their own at the cost of N578bn, Falan said: "No doubt, the National Assembly has become so bold in arrogance and impunity. Otherwise, how can they insert 6,403 projects while the President proposed 4,700 projects and increased capital expenditure form N2.36bn to N2.87bn?”

However, the outspoken lawyer blamed the Buhari-led administration for the lawmakers’ impunity.

“With respect, the Buhari administration has itself to blame for the mangling or padding of the budget by the National Assembly.

In 2016, Honourable Abdulmumini Jibrin, the then Chairman of House of Committee on Appropriation, blew the whistle when he petitioned the EFCC to the effect that the budget had been padded to the tune of N100 billions.

“The House placed him on suspension for 180 legislative days. The allegations were investigated and confirmed by the EFCC but it was settled like a “family affair” of the APC. The House spent public funds to fight the legislator from the high court to the Supreme Court and back to the high court. The legal battle lasted two years before his illegal suspension was set aside,” he said.

Falana also talked about how budget fraud started in the fourth republic and how it was perfected during the regime of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Under (former) President Olusegun Obasanjo, the budget of the National Assembly was N43bn per annum. It suddenly rose to N150bn in 2010 when the budget was forged by the cabal that ruled the country.

“That was when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was hospitalised in an undisclosed Saudi medical centre.

“The annual budgeting fraud was perfected by the National Assembly under (former) President Jonathan Goodluck.

“In 2016, because of recession, the National Assembly decided suo motu to reduce its budget to N115bn without details. It has now been increased to N139bn without details.

“By accepting the figures without the provision of the details, the executive breached Section 81 which requires that the President shall lay before the National Assembly the details of the estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the next financial year.

“The details of the sum of N139bn have to be set out. But because of the N13.5m running costs and other illegal payments, the details of the budget of the National Assembly are deliberately shrouded in secrecy. It is high time that the fraudulent practice was stopped.

“The mechanisms for regulating the activities of the lawmakers are there in the anti-graft laws but the executive is not prepared to make use of them. For instance, Section 70 of the Constitution states that a member of the National Assembly shall receive such salary and allowances which shall be fixed and determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. But the National Assembly members have decided to fix and pay jumbo emoluments to themselves.

“Not less than 21 legislators and ministers are receiving pension from the state governments where they had served as governors and huge salaries and allowances from the Federal Government. Why should the Minister of Finance authorise the release of money for payment of such illegal salary and allowances to people who are on scandalous pension for life?"

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Meanwhile, following the criticisms that have trailed the slashing of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly, the lawmakers explained that allocations for some projects were slashed to correct the alleged imbalance in the appropriation bill.

The lawmakers said that the projects as proposed in the 2018 appropriation bill presented by President Buhari was lopsided.

The clarification was made by the chairman of the Senate committee on media and public affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, at a joint press conference in Abuja on Friday, June 22.

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