The President Muhammadu Buhari administration will fulfill its promise of providing open and transparent leadership for the country, the Presidency assured on Monday.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, gave the assurance while speaking on the decision of the Buhari administration to submit the budget proposals for Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to the National Assembly for consideration.
The president, in a letter dated June 30, 2016 and read by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, during plenary last Tuesday, intimated the lawmakers on the transmission of the budgets of 38 agencies and corporations under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, saying it was in line with extant laws.
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Shehu pointed out that the decision to send the budgets of the agencies and corporations to the National Assembly was in line with the president’s desire to offer a more accountable and transparent leadership for the country.
He said: “The laying of budgets for the MDAs, particularly those regarding the Central Bank and the NNPC behemoth is clearly unprecedented. The President is determined to make the budgeting more transparent and more participative.
“It is all part of the re-engineering of the entire processes of government for the benefit of the ordinary citizens”.
He quoted President Buhari as saying that good governance is key to the nation’s progress and transparency is the cornerstone of any government that has the welfare of ordinary citizens as its mantra.
“By responding positively to the demand of the National Assembly that MDA budgets be laid before it for scrutiny, a demand mostly ignored by past administrations, President Buhari has given a clear indication of his commitment to an open, transparent and people-oriented government for Nigerians.
“He has shown that he is not hiding any secrets. It is equally a mark of respect for the institution of parliament. Our hope and expectation is that the National Assembly, acting in the best interest of the nation will allow the immediate operationalization of the budgets, so that the momentum of growth of the economy which has begun to build up will be sustained”, Shehu added.
He further assured that President Buhari will not let Nigerians down on key promises made by the government.
