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Confab is a waste of Public funds – Buhari

Published

10 years ago

March 25, 2014

A former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on
Monday described the ongoing national conference as a waste of
public funds.
He said at the opening of the inaugural edition of the PGF
Progressive Governors-Legislative-Civil Society Roundtable
in Abuja, that the huge amount being spent on the entire process,
should have been put to better use.
Buhari, an All Progressives Congress national leader, argued
that what the conference was trying to achieve was what the
National Assembly was in a better position to do.
He said, “What I say about the conference is a personal view.
What the conference is doing is the duty of the National
Assembly.
“The elite should have call themselves together and ask the
National Assembly to sponsor a bill for some amendments to the
constitution.
“I do not think that at this time when government is finding it
difficult to pay salaries of workers, it can afford about N7bn to
waste on a conference.”
Also at the event, Senator Bukola Saraki said the current
administration needed to be more transparent in the management
of the nation’s funds.
He explained that the lack of transparency was partly
responsible for the impunity of the Peoples Democratic Party-
led Federal Government.
Saraki said, it was only in Nigeria that a President could
afford to commit an impeachable offence by spending huge public
revenue outside appropriation without consequences.
He argued that the money being spent on the national conference
was not contained in the 2014 budget.
“I told my colleagues that it might probably be coming from the
missing $20bn.” Saraki, a former Kwara State governor and
APC leader added.
He also noted that the controversial subsidy regime posed a great
danger to the economy itself.
The lawmaker said, “Let us not allow anybody to deceive us; the
problem is not the subsidy but it’s management.
“The country does not use more 35 million litres of PMS
(Premium Motor Spirit) while a look at cost profile shows a
huge difference that indicates that we cannot consume more 35
million litres.”
According to him, an efficient petrol subsidy management can
solve most of the problems being experienced in the country.
The Director General of the PGF, Salisu Lukeman, said
concerns over institutionalised corruption informed the forum’s
decision to liaise with APC members in the National Assembly
to do something to keep the fight against graft in the front burner.
Lukeman explained that the outcome of the interface would form
the basis of new strategies to fight corruption.
Also, the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Abu
Ibrahim, said the round table was the first of its kind in the
country.
He said that APC members in the National Assembly would
try to push through the resolutions at the round table in the
National Assembly.
The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajamila, said the party had once again taken up topics that
are germane to national development.
He explained that the party, through roundtable, had made it
very clear that good governance was its priority
I totally support Buhari what of you ?