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Saraki Attacks Presidency, Says Late Submission Of INEC’s Budget, Lack Of Foresight

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Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, on Sunday, attacked the Presidency stating that the late submission of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s budget for the 2019 general election is due to lack of foresight.

Saraki who released a statement through his Special Adviser on New Media, Olu Onemola, blasted the President Muhammadu Buhari Media Organisation for blaming him of slowing down the approval of INEC’s budget.

The Senate President had been accused by the group of postponing the resumption of the Senate in spite of Buhari’s submission of INEC’s budget.

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In the statement released by Onemola, it revealed that the National Assembly is committed to approve the budget of INEC ahead of the 2019 election.

Saraki’s aide stated that in spite of the presidency submitting the budget lately, the committees of the National Assembly had been on their toes to see that the due process is followed for the approval.

He stated, “By now, the Nigerian people are aware that the executive branch could have submitted INEC’s 2019 elections budget at the time it submitted the 2018 appropriation proposals last year.

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“The executive had from January till June this year to submit the budget request. However, due to a perceived lack of foresight, display of usual tardiness or an attempt to ensure that due process would not be followed, this request was submitted only a few days before the statutory National Assembly annual recess.

The aide said groups like the Buhari Media Organisation that had worked assiduously “with conscientious ignorance as their guide to attempt to scapegoat the Senate President for the failure of the executive to submit INEC’s 2019 election budget on time.

More importantly, the Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly to help legalise the various innovations that needed for free and fair elections is still absent because President Muhammadu Buhari chose to withhold his assent the first time it was transmitted.

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“The question the Buhari Media Organisation should ask their principal is: “What is he afraid of in the very progressive proposals contained in the Electoral Bill? Why does he want to frustrate the 2019 elections by denying the nation the much-needed enabling law?

He recalled that INEC had stated that it was confident and comfortable with the thorough and transparent response by the National Assembly.

Mr Akpandem James, the Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, while reacting on Sunday, said it was not true that the Presidency received the INEC budget and kept it.

James stated that since the budget came in form of supplementary budget, it is not advisable to send the INEC budget with the national budget.

He said the national budget is usually sent by the executive and passed by the National Assembly before the supplementary budget would be forwarded to the parliament.

James said, “INEC budget came as a supplementary budget. You don’t send the supplementary budget to the National Assembly when the substantive budget has not been passed. That is why they call it supplementary. So when was the budget passed? When was it assented to? Those are the issues.

“If the budget was passed early, that supplementary budget would have been sent to the National Assembly. The supplementary budget was sent one month, in fact the following month.

The budget was signed in June and in July the supplementary budget was sent to the National Assembly. So, it’s not that INEC budget came and it was kept. Supplementary budget is sent to the National Assembly after the substantive budget has been passed.

The Presidency while reacting to the statement of Saraki, stated that the report that the Presidency was to be blamed for the delay in the approval of INEC’s budget is a false accusation.

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, spoke on behalf of the Presidency in a statement released to journalists.

Shehu said, “The Senate President should look into the mirror and what he will see is his own face. He is solely to be held responsible for deliberately driving the nation to this cliff edge as far as the preparations for next elections are concerned.”

He stated the fact that the INEC proposals came after the President had laid the 2018 budget before the National Assembly meant that the electoral commission’s proposals would be sent as a supplementary budget.

This, he said, was clearly stated to the federal lawmakers by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma.

A supplementary budget cannot be submitted until the main budget is passed, and so the delay in passing the main budget was the reason for the delay.

“The National Assembly passed the 2018 budget seven months after the document was submitted to the National Assembly by President Buhari. Unless someone has forgotten, the budget was submitted to the National Assembly and it took the Saraki-led National Assembly seven months to release it.

There is no way President Buhari could have submitted a supplementary budget while the main one was still pending. It is never done. Because Saraki did not return the main budget, we could not have submitted the supplementary one,” he said, adding,After the long delays, the President was pained to sign the much distorted, butchered and debauched document.

Shehu also recalled that in giving his assent, Buhari said he was compelled to sign the budget so as not to keep the economy continuously on a standstill.

When I submitted the 2018 Budget proposals to the National Assembly on 7th November 2017, I had hoped that the usual legislative review process would be quick, so as to move Nigeria towards a predictable January-December financial year,” he quoted the President as saying.

He stated that it is the first time in the history of the country that a government would bring together the cost of an election in one budget, with each agency involved called to defend their portion of the budget before the National Assembly.

He stated that the move is a sign that the government is transparent.

He claimed that in the past, governments would approve INEC budgets and funding without a breakdown, “often using ways and means to fund it, not so under President Buhari.”