President Buhari Disassociates Himself From The Missing 2016 Buget

As the controversies surrounding the alleged disappearance of copies of the 2016 Appropriation Bill personally submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari gains more traction, the Presidency has distanced itself from the disappearance of both the hard and soft copies of the budget proposal.

“By tradition, once the budget is submitted, it ceases to be our property,” the Senior Special Assistant to the Presidency on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said on Tuesday.

The meeting between the two leaders in his office lasted for over one hour. But the Senate President declined comments on the missing budget when confronted by State House correspondents.

However, Garba insisted that the National Assembly and not the Presidency can explain the alleged disappearance, while noting the President had not withdrawn the budget.

He said, “Nobody except the President can withdraw the budget. As far as we know, he has not done that.

“The copies in their hundreds have been delivered to both chambers of the National Assembly. Enquiries as to where it is should be directed to the appropriate quarters.”