Buhari Didn’t Sign A Padded Budget – Presidency

The Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ismail Kawu, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari did not sign a padded budget.

This was disclosed after an over three-hour meeting with the APC leadership, insisting that the budget signed by the President was not a padded budget.

The SSA said: “I am here on the invitation of the leadership of the APC with my colleague to bring answers to issues raised by the party on the 2016 Appropriation and we have been with the party for a little over three hours. We have given explanations to them on every issue and told them that there was nothing, to our knowledge, like padding of the budget.

“The budget as assented to by Mr. President is the budget as passed by the National Assembly and that is the budget being executed.

“But as of now, the party is handling it as a domestic issue, and all of us are enjoined not to make public comment on the details because the matter is still under consideration.

“So, that is what we will want to say for now, we will not want to go into the details of it so that we will not breach the ethics of the party, the directives of the party or pre-empt anything or any outcome of the party investigation.”

He added that “we came here as persons who works as liaison officers on the budget because the party had questions for us and we came to make clarifications on the issues raised.

“We have made those clarifications and would not want to draw any conclusion. Please let us not go too far by mentioning any office. Let it be that the two of us appeared before the party.

“In all our years of legislative engagement, we are yet to find in the legislative lexicon the word ‘padding’. When the budget is presented before the legislature, the legislature is to consider the budget and pass as they deem fit.

“So what the legislature pass becomes the appropriation upon accent. Therefore, any word which is yet to crystallize in legislative lexicon, you cannot hear us mention it.”

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Nigeria Needs Change Agents – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in his tribute to the deceased pioneer Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Maj.-Gen. Timothy Ogundeko, said Nigeria is in dire need of people who will render selfless service that could change the tide of the country for good.

Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made the remark describing the deceased as a pacesetter in strategic leadership training.

According to the statement, “The President affirms that with his tireless efforts and foresight, Gen. Ogundeko transformed the Nigerian Army Education Corps for the benefit of the Service and the nation; and his legendary role in the establishment of Command Secondary Schools is well appreciated.

“President Buhari trusts that the vision of the deceased for a united and prosperous Nigeria will be honoured by all who mourn him, particularly at this critical point when the nation is in need of selfless citizens to change Nigeria for the better.

“The President extends heartfelt condolences to Gen. Ogundeko’s family, as well as the government and people of Ogun State.

“He prays that God will grant the soul of the departed eternal rest and comfort his family, friends and admirers.”

Nobody Blocked Jibrin From Seeing Buhari, He Didn’t Follow Protocol – Presidency

The Presidency has dismissed insinuation by Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, saying he was “blocked” from seeing President Muhammadu Buhari over his budget padding allegations against some principal officers of the lower legislative chambers.

Recall that Jibrin had in a statement on Sunday alleged that two governors and three former members of the House were “blocking” him from meeting the President to state his own side of the story.

Abdulrahman Kawu-Sumaila, Senior Special Assistant to the President and former Deputy Minority leader of the House of Representatives is said to be one of those Jibrin had alleged to have impeded his effort to see the President.

But reacting to the report, the SSA said as a lawmaker, Jibrin should know the “protocol” on how to see the President.

According to Kawu-Sumaila, the former Appropriation Chairman had never approached him to facilitate a meeting with the President.

He said, “The way he has been going about this issue is unfortunate. He is dragging the names of innocent people into it.

“He has not approached me that he wants to see the President. If he makes a request, I will facilitate it for him. He knows the protocol.”

On his role in facilitating Buhari’s meeting with Dogara, Kawu-Sumaila said, “When the Speaker wanted to see Mr. President, he told me.

“I did my part to facilitate it. I was waiting at the office while they met. I was not at the meeting with them.

“It was after the meeting ended and the Speaker came out that I saw him off.

“The same thing would have happened if Jibrin requested to see the President.”

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BREAKING: Buhari Relaunches War Against Indiscipline Brigade

The Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari today relaunched the War Against Indiscipline, WAI Brigade, in Abuja, saying in this era of insecurity, violence, kidnapping, and other forms of social vices, the role of the Brigade in civil intelligence gathering cannot be over emphasized.

Announcing the development on the occasion of the National and State Commanders meeting of the Community Support Brigade, CSB, also known as WAI, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency, NOA, Dr. Garba Abari said the President Buhari administration has declared the intention to relaunch the Brigade for better performance, as well as to bring its activities to the fore.

Details later...

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I won’t Resign As Speaker – Dogara

Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on Friday, speaking with State House Correspondent shortly after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, insisted that he would not resign from his position.

The Speaker described the current budget padding levelled against him as an offence, affirming that despite the many allegations against him and his office, he will remain in his position.

Recall that a member of the House, Jibrin had accused Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun; Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Danguwa and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor of attempting to illegally insert over N40bn into the 2016 budget.

Since his initial allegation against the Speaker and other principal officers of the House, the lawmaker had continued to level more allegations on them.

Presidency Denies Favouring North, Muslims In Appointments

The Presidency on Monday through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said President Muhammadu Buhari has treated all Nigerians without bias for ethnicity or religion in his appointments and policies since he assumed office on May 29, 2015.

The special assistant in a statement while reacting to the London Telegraph’s article “Children Face Death by Starvation in Northern Nigeria” published on Saturday, said claims that the present administration was targeting Christians and members of the opposition were without foundation.

Shehu said the article repeated a claim from an earlier piece “Nigeria Using UK Aid to Persecute President’s Political Foes” published on April 12, indicating that Nigeria was diverting United Kingdom’s aid monies away from defeating the Islamist terror group Boko Haram towards those the newspaper identifies as political opponents of the administration.

He said, “As for claims that the administration is targeting Christians and the opposition, these are without foundation.

“Since assuming office, President Buhari has treated all Nigerians without bias for ethnicity or religion – as the composition of his cabinet and the policies and programmes of his administration demonstrate.

“To suggest his government as deepening Muslim-Christian division is not only untrue, but plays into the hands of Boko Haram who wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines.

“Fighting this group is key priority of President Buhari’s administration. Indeed the international community has widely acknowledged his determination to defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad Basin.

“There is nothing to gain by attempting to mould public opinion against these facts. Therefore we invite The Telegraph to visit Nigeria: to witness first hand not only the challenges we face, but the administration’s determination to confront them.”

Explaining that the UK government does not give development aid to the Nigerian government for operations against Boko Haram, Shehu noted that while the claims in both articles were attributed to an unnamed source in the United States and “Western officials”, yet the first article drew the condemnation of the US Embassy in Abuja as having drawn conclusions directly opposite to the position of the US government when it was first published.

He added, “To state the facts: the UK government does not give development aid to the Nigerian administration for use in military operations against Boko Haram. Where British military support – such as intelligence – is provided, it is precisely and only, given for operations directly against Boko Haram.

“Similarly, the Nigerian Government is in no position to divert aid monies used for emergency relief for refugees or IDP camps for any other purpose, as these are dispensed directly by DFID, USAID, the United Nations, the International Red Cross, Doctors without Borders and many other organisations – with which we enjoy excellent relations.

“The humanitarian situation in these camps is real. The administration remains deeply concerned about the medical, health and nutrition challenges and we are doing everything with the limited resources we have at our disposal to improve the situation.”

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