It has now become more imperative for the presidency under Muhammadu Buhari to tender some apologies to Bukola Saraki over the 2022 budget.
The president was reluctant to sign the 2022 appropriation bill into law. He argued that the National Assembly has tampered with the budget and that it was a serious tampering. Yet he signed the budget.
The presidency argued that he wouldn’t want to throw away the baby with the bathwater. Hence, he reluctantly agreed to append his signature to the document. The National Assembly added some materials to the tune of one trillion naira.
Meanwhile, this wouldn’t be the first time such would happen. The National Assembly under Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara was accused of padding the 2016 appropriation bill. The chairman of the appropriation committee, Abdulmumin Jibril, raised the alarm.
And the presidency took the matter up. It seriously engaged the National Assembly in an outburst and top APC leaders including Bola Ahmed Tinubu attacked Saraki and Mr. Dogara.
At that time, the inability of the federal government to perform was blamed on Saraki and Dogara. It got to a level that Nigerians were convinced to see Saraki as the main obstacle to the administration of the Buhari’s administration.
The president has now expressed his concern because of the worrisome changes made to the 2022 budget. But he couldn’t really condemn the current National Assembly under Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajamiabila.
In as much as the presidency can’t verbally attack the APC-led assembly, it should tender some unreserved apologies to former senate president Bukola Saraki.
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