The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has reacted to the claim made by President Muhammadu Buhari, that the N9.12trillion 2018 Appropriation Bill was altered by the National Assembly.
Buhari had last week, while signing into law the 2018 budget, alleged that members of the National Assembly padded the estimates which he presented to them in November 2017.
The SDP chairman in Abia state, Hon. Chidi Nwosu, who spoke with DAILY POST on Monday in Umuahia, the state capital, explained that the legislature was empowered by the law to alter annual estimates, that is perceived to be over-bloated.
Nwosu lashed out at President Buhari for making unnecessary claims while lacking knowledge of budget system.
According to the former Abia lawmaker, “It is not that the National Assembly has no right to alter the estimates as presented to the legislature by the executive.
“The National Assembly members are members of the Nigeria society. If, in certain agencies and MDAs, that certain allocations for projects and sub head are over-bloated, the national assembly members could reduce that.
“If they feel like it is not sufficient, they can also increase the allocations to such a sub-head. But there is no synergy between the National Assembly and the Executive.
“That is why seemingly, the annual estimates of Nigeria as presented by the executive, would continually be altered. The interest of the national assembly members who represent their people are not usually carried along.
“The National assembly members knows the basic needs of their people. And if those needs are not attended to, in the budget, definitely they must take care of them as they review the estimates as presented by the President.”
He added that, “in this case now, ordinarily my advocation should have been that, the national assembly members should forward interest projects, that’s projects that their people need most, to the Budget and planning committee”.
“So that the Budget committee will now embed this interest and desirable projects by the people in the estimates before presenting it to the legislature.
“But since it is not done, whatever the executive does, the national assembly will have to add those areas they think their people are interested in. And by doing that, definitely the budget must be altered on the incremental basis.
“Mr. President shouting on that, I don’t think he understands the budget system.”
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