Politics

Acting President, Osinbajo And EMT At Loggerheads With National Assembly Over 2017 Budget

Published

7 years ago

May 16, 2017 9:34 am

A fresh row may be in the offing between the Executive and the Legislative arms of government over the 2017 budget.

This is because the Presidency appears not to be in a hurry to assent to the 2017 Appropriation Bill, which the National Assembly passed late last week, Vanguard learned from a top federal official last night.

However, Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and the Presidential Economic Management Team, EMT, have commenced a review of the 2017 budget, even without the details of the Appropriation Bill at their disposal yet. But one of the top officials of the Federal Government expressed fears that the budget had been ‘altered’ in many ways by the lawmakers after spending more than five months deliberating on the document.

With N143bn added to Buhari’s figure, the official questioned where the lawmakers got N143 billion which they added to the original figure submitted to them by the President and the additional N10 billion added to the budget of the National Assembly at a time the government was reeling under hardship.

The official, who did not want his name in print, also questioned why the NASS unilaterally made substantial reductions from capital provisions for some strategic projects spread across the country and moved the money to some unspecified projects that are under the control of states and local governments.

According to the source, “that is why we fear that the distortions in this year’s budget may be more than those noticed in 2016 budget and the government may have to spend some time to study the budget so as not to make any mistake that may put it into crisis with the Nigerian people. Notwithstanding the long period the budget has been with the NASS, the Federal Government will have to take some time to review the budget and see the extent to which it has been altered and determined whether such alterations are significant or marginal and whether we can ignore them and move on or call for a review.”

A scrutiny of the budget passed by the National Assembly reveals that apart from increasing the figure submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari last December, the National Assembly has also moved a lot of money from both capital and recurrent votes to projects that states and local governments should handle under the Concurrent and Residual lists.

Meanwhile, Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, and the Presidential Economic Management Team, EMT, have commenced a review of the 2017 budget, even without the details of the Appropriation Bill at their disposal yet. A critical element of the review, however, was to shore up revenues for the funding of the budget. While the document is yet to reach the Presidential Villa, the Presidency has already started its review. To realize the funding objective, the EMT also set up a committee to work out the modalities.

In a tweet during the regular Monday meeting of the EMT, presided over by the Acting President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, spokesman to Osinbajo, Mr. Laolu Akande, stated that the budget was one of the issues the meeting deliberated upon. “Acting President Osinbajo presiding over economic Management Team reviewing major issues in 2017 budget and others. In attendance are ministers and CBN gov,” Akande tweeted.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting, Akande said while a copy of the budget was being awaited, the EMT had taken proactive measures to ensure optimal performance. “The EMT discussed the funding of the budget so that we can hit the ground running, once we receive the budget formally and sign it. That was what was discussed in relation to the budget, revenues, loans etc. There are basically ongoing discussions. There is a smaller group in the EMT that is responsible for the funding and it is just an ongoing discussion,” Akande said.

The EMT is chaired by the Acting President and has the ministers of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah as members, alongside Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Directors General of the Budget Office, Debt Management Office and other relevant agencies.

Politics

Kano court upholds Ganduje’s suspension from APC

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024 12:34 pm

BodexNG

The Kano state high court has affirmed the suspension of Abdullahi Ganduje from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court, while granting an ex parte order, also restrained Ganduje, national chair of the party, from further parading himself as a member of the APC.

On April 15, APC executives in Dawakin ward, under Tofa LGA of Kano, suspended Ganduje over alleged corruption.

However, the working committee of the APC in Kano subsequently nullified the suspension and punished the ward executives.

The court ordered that henceforth, Ganduje should desist from presiding over all affairs of the national working committee (NWC) of the APC.

The application was granted by Usman Na’abba, a judge, on Tuesday, following an ex parte motion filed by Ibrahim Sa’ad, on behalf of executive members of the APC in Ganduje’s ward.

The court directed the respondents to maintain status quo pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit on April 30.

Na’abba also stopped the state working committee of the APC in Kano “from interfering with the legally and validly considered decision of executives of Ganduje’s ward, essentially on action endorsed by two third majority of the executives as provided by the party constitution”.

“An order is hereby granted directing all parties in the suit APC (1st), APC National Working Committee (2nd), Kano State Working Committee APC (3rd), Dr. Abdullah Umar Ganduje (4th), to maintain status quo ante belum as of 15th April, 2024,” Na’abba said.

“The order thereby restraining the 1st respondent (APC) from recognising the 4th respondent (Ganduje) as member of APC and prohibiting the 4th respondent (Ganduje) from presiding over any affairs of the NWC and restraining the state working committee from interfering with the legally and valid decision of the ward executives of Ganduje ward.

“That the 4th respondent (Ganduje) is prohibited from parading himself as member of APC or doing any act that may portray him or seem to be a member of APC pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

On Tuesday, the Kano anti-corruption commission said it had filed fresh charges against Ganduje who was governor of the state from 2015 to 2023.

Politics

Kano APC suspends Ganduje over corruption allegations

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024 3:30 pm

BodexNG

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Dawakin Tofa LGA of Kano has suspended Abdullahi Ganduje, national chair of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over corruption allegations.

The suspension was announced by Halliru Gwanzo, legal adviser of the ward, during a briefing with journalists in Kano on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje by the Kano state government as reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

He added that the suspension will persist until Ganduje is cleared of the charges.

Last week, the Kano high court had stated that Ganduje will be arraigned on April 17 on charges bordering on bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of public funds.

In a court summon, it was stated that the former governor of Kano will be arraigned alongside his wife and son.

The other defendants in the case are Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, and Lesaga General Enterprises.

In a charge sheet seen by TheCable, the state government said the offences contravened the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law 2008.

BACKGROUND

In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.

The APC national chairman was the governor of Kano from 2015 to 2023.

The newspaper said Ganduje requested $5 million as bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.

In 2023, the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) invited Ganduje for questioning over the video.

The former governor did not honour the invitation and instead instituted a suit against the agency.

In March, a federal high court in Kano stopped the agency from inviting or questioning Ganduje over the bribery allegations.

The court ruled that the agency lacks the power to invite or investigate Ganduje over the allegations.

Abdullahi Liman, the presiding judge, said the alleged infraction is a federal offence that cannot be prosecuted by the state anti-graft agency.

Politics

38-year-old Omobayo to replace impeached Shaibu as Edo deputy governor

Published

2 weeks ago

April 8, 2024 1:44 pm

BodexNG

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has picked Omobayo Godwin as his deputy, hours after the impeachment of Philip Shaibu.

The 38-year-old Omobayo is scheduled to be sworn in at the Edo government house in Benin City, the state capital, in the next couple of hours.

Born on July 19, 1986, Omobayo hails from Akoko Edo LGA of the state.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical electronics, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

Shaibu was impeached on Monday by the Edo house of assembly.

His impeachment followed the adoption of the report of a seven-man investigative panel.

The panel was set up by Daniel Okungbowa, chief judge of Edo, and was headed by S. A. Omonuwa, a retired justice.

Shaibu was accused of “misconduct, perjury and disclosure of government secrets”.

Obaseki fell out with Shaibu after the latter showed interest in contesting the governorship election.

Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others