Human rights activist, Femi Falana SAN, has reacted to the response of the National Assembly justifying its alterations in the estimates of the 2018 Budget.
Falana described the reasons given by the National Assembly for the amendment in amounts allocated to some projects and introduction of new ones as diversionary.
He said this in response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s complaint of alterations in the appropriation bill which sparked varying reactions.
Falana, in a statement, stated that the executive arm of government is to blame for ‘Budget padding’.
According to him, Buhari lacks the courage to challenge the action of the National Assembly.
He cited instances of how a House of Representatives member, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, revealed the details of budget padding in 2016, wondering why the executive did not allow its anti-graft agencies to step into it.
“The National Assembly lacked the power to introduce projects and allocate funds to them.
“However, the executive is to blame for the continued practice of “budget padding” by the National Assembly.
“Buhari, like his successors since 1999, lacked the courage to challenge the illegality in the National Assembly,” Falana said.
