Blame Yourself for Project Delay, Not National Assembly, Dogara Replies Buhari
- …. Buhari presented it just nine days to 2016’…..
- Buck-passing and blame game is not new to Buhari.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has reacted to the comment made by President Muhammadu Buhari who rated the 8th National Assembly low on patriotism.
Dogara in reaction to the comment made by the president in a special interview with the president said that President Buhari should blame himself and not the National Assembly for the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget which was signed into law on Monday.
According to the speaker in a statement released on Tuesday, since President Buhari assumed office, he ‘has been unable to present budget on time, adding that his first budget being the 2016 budget was submitted on December 22, 2015, exactly nine days to the end of the fiscal year.
“The minimum time the National Assembly requires to pass budget is three months. But he presented it just nine days to 2016’ and that ‘what Nigerians didn’t know and the President won’t say is that the Executive through the various ministries continued to propose additional projects to be included in the 2018 budget even as at April and May which further delayed the passage of the 2018 budget.’
Dogara who stated that the development was communicated officially pointed that if anyone is in doubt the letters are there with the dates they were written and received.
The Speaker who maintained that buck-passing and blame game is not new to Buhari as it is now his stock in trade pointed that in the past few days and weeks, there is no day that passes without the President blaming others in a desperate move to exonerate himself from any blame or failure of the Executive under his leadership to execute projects across the country.
“In fact, very recently, Buhari blamed all his predecessors for failing to build infrastructure. And I wonder why? It was the general consensus that the former employees didn’t perform as expected and that was why Nigerians hired him for a job he has sought for four conservative time but here he is blaming the same people he replaced. If you are the boss of ” Nigeria limited”, what will you do this employee?,” he asked.
Dogara who also noted that the president some weeks ago blamed the media for failing to showcase his achievements said it is disingenuous for President Buhari to blame the National Assembly for his government’s inability to implement budget and execute projects that affect the lives of Nigerians in the last three years.
“To set the record straight, this is a President who, from inception of his government didn’t show any sign that he was well prepared and ready for the job he sought for four times in 16 years and for which we voted for him.
“For instance, it took him six months, yes six months not six weeks to form his cabinet. It also took him two years to appoint board chairmen for most government agencies. This is was his greatest undoing and was principally responsible for plunging Nigeria into recession because activities in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government were brought to a half for the period since civil servants could not take decisions due to absence of political heads in a country where public sector spending drives the economy,” part of his statement reads.
