The President Does Not Listen to Advice – Owie
Abuja former Senate Whip, Senator Rowland Owie yesterday criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for saying that he will not sign the 2016 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly into law, just as he warned that failure to assent the bill would amount to starting a new budget presentation exercise.
Speaking with Vanguard Newspaper yesterday, Senator Owie who asked the President to listen to the Minister of Budget and Planning and a former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and Special Assistant to National Assembl Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang who are experienced in legislatie matters.
[quote]My worry is that Mr. President is not listening to advise from the Minister of Budget and National Planning and a former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Udoma Udo and his Special Assistant, Senator Ita Enang who is also very knowledgeable on National Assembly matters or is it that he may not be taking their inputs.[/quote]Senator Owie who told President Buhari to sign and work with the approved budget, then send amendment to the National Assembly on some grey areas, stressed that both the National Assembly and the state houses of assembly are by law permitted to reintroduce new items into the appropriation bill, they can reduce the amount of decrease or remove it totally to zero level.
The Senator advised Mr. President to go ahead and assent to the budget, and that whatever he feels he wants to do, to send it back to the National Assembly while he is scrutinizing. He stressed that if he does not do that and rather goes ahead to change a line of the budget, it will take another five months, and it will start afresh from first reading to second reading, to committee level.
[quote]If he tampers with it, he has to return it to NASS and start from zero point meaning that this year, we may not have a budget and in view of the above, I ask the President to assent to the budget and start implementing those areas he has no problem with, then begin to look at others and if he does not do this, he will run Nigeria into crisis.[/quote]Meanwhile the Nigerian President still insists on thoroughly scrutinizing the budget before signing.
