- Says President submitted empty box during presentation
A human rights group in Nigeria, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has requested from the President and Commander –in-Chief of Armed Forces, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, to tell the people of the Country where about of the 2016 Fiscal Budget recently submitted to the National Assembly, thereby calling for the thorough investigation on the remote cause of the missing of the national life document.
It also gave 48hours ultimatum to the authority concerned to return the original copy of the hard and soft copies of the 2016 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly in the last December for proper deliberation in the National Assembly, making jest of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government to hold immediate Past President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan responsible for the missing of the Budget documents.
The rights group, however alleged President Buhari of submitting the empty box to the National Assembly during the recent presentation of the Budget to the lawmakers in the National Assembly complex, saying that the whole scenario were suspicious due to the recent media report on the withdrawal of the 2016 Budget by President Buhari led –Federal Government .
In a statement issued and signed by the CHRSJ’s Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman and a copy was made available to newsmen in Lagos yesterday, that it was unbelievable for the document to be missing in the National Assembly that charged with the responsibility of making the 2016 Budget into law before expenditure in the current fiscal year, alleged conspiracy among the Presidency, some Senators and National Assembly Staff, insisting that the Presidency and Senators were behind the missing of the Budget.
The rights activist noted that it was a shame on the part of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for not being able to track their purported “Budget of Change” before disappearance from the National Assembly, describing the act of conspiracy as barbaric, illegal, unlawful, ungodly, anti-masses, aberration, anathema and abomination which was a crime against humanity.
Comrade Sulaiman also described President Buhari and co-travelers as a serial and Pathological liar who always made a blatant lies with double speaks on the issue of national importance since assumption office on May 29th, 2015, adding that President knew about the missing of the 2016 Budget because President knows the implication of reading such cleverly designed corrupt-based budget document to Nigerians at this period when masses of the nation were yearning for visionary change from the present administration.
Comrade Sulaiman said, “This is a fraud of highest order where Budget of Change cannot be traced again in the National Assembly and this fraud should not be allowed to stand. This is a first time in the history of Budget documentation that such an ugly incident will occur in Nigeria political landscape. Presidency in connivance with the staff of the National Assembly, tactically withdraw the budget from the Assembly so as to give it opportunity to doctor the budget. This is high time for well meaning Nigerians to speak out against anti-masses action of the present administration in Nigeria.
“The APC ruling government should have told Nigeria people now that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan responsible for this missing 2016 Budget as they used to say whenever they failed in governance. Nigerians will now see that President Muhammadu Buhari submitted the empty box during the presentation of the Budget to the National Assembly last December. They should produce the Budget within 48hoursnow as Nigerians will not want to hear excuse again.
Sulaiman therefore urged the people of the country to hold President Muhammadu Buhari and leadership and Staff of the National Assembly responsible for the missing of the 2016 Budget, recalling that such an incident did not new in the nation as former First Lady, Hajia Turai Ya’radua in 2010 kept former President Umar Musa Ya’radua’s corpse away from the public and directed the security agents to be guiding empty casket.
