Why Buhari won’t approve 2016 budget yet –Presidency

The Presidency says that President Muhammadu Buhari will only assent to the 2016 Appropriation Bill recently passed by the National Assbuhariembly when the details are presented.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who made this known in an interview, said “Yes, the National Assembly has passed the budget and sent the bill to the President but the details did not come with the bill. Of course, the President cannot sign something without seeing the details. The normal practice is that the details would have accompanied the bill. When the President presented the Appropriation bill it was accompanied by the details.”

He continued that the presidency expects that in less than a week, the legislature should be able to conclude whatever work they are doing on the details, and convey it to the president for assent.

Speaking on the decision to join the Saudi Arabia-backed Islamic anti-terrorist coalition which has generated a lot of criticisms, Garba said President Buhari needs the support he has gotten from religious leaders in the country, be they Muslims or Christians, and that nobody can take that for granted.

He explained that the president went into the Islamic alliance against terror and for the national interest.

“Culturally speaking, we have a proverb which says that your enemy’s enemy is your friend. So logically speaking, whoever is fighting terror in the world should be your friend. We don’t have to look at their background.

“The President, earlier in the administration, went to the G-7 which, with due respect, is not a coalition of Islamic countries. In terms of religion they are majorly Christians. The G-7 does not comprise black people like us, they are majorly whites, but because they want to assist Nigeria to achieve its objectives, he went there and placed his cards on the table seeking for help. He went to the United States of America and without looking at ideological or religious orientation, he said, I need your help.

Read also: Buhari gives assurance on 2016 budget in Easter message

“So, isn’t it curious that the Muslim countries are the ones who suffer the worst terrorism? Look at Syria now, they have an understanding of the so-called Islamic terror, perhaps more than those who have already offered to help us. They want to sit down with us and share intelligence, may be give us weapons to help fight terrorism and more than any other thing, to even help us rebuild the Northeast”, he said.

According to him, “Whether the Chibok girls are brought home by Christians or Muslims does not matter to the parents. All they want is; Can I have my daughter back? That is the vision that the President has”.

On suggestions that such a coalition is a prelude to Nigeria assuming full membership of the OIC, Garba stated that “Nigeria is already a member of the OIC but the membership has not altered Nigeria’s diversity in terms of religion and so on. In fact, the OIC, which is much distrusted by people who don’t have the larger view of things, is a positive force in terms of moderation when it comes to the sharing, creation of knowledge and awareness or the practice of Islam.”

According to him, “If Nigerians are fair as we have always been, with more accommodation towards the OIC, there would be a lot of benefits that we can even gain”.

 

 

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