BUHARI’S NASS CRITICISM: ‘A worrying sign’ if Buhari was questioning the institution— Reps

The House of Representatives on Wednesday reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s harsh comments on members of the National Assembly.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, stated this while briefing reporters on Wednesday in Abuja.

Namdas was responding to Buhari’s comments about the National Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday during the visit of the Buhari Support Organisation at the Presidential Villa.

Buhari had criticized members of the National Assembly.

Speaking on his commitment to infrastructural development, Buhari said unlike previous administrations, he made the highest provision for capital projects, N1.3 trillion, in the budget.

Referencing the National Assembly, he asked, “Let anybody come and confront me publicly in the National Assembly. What have they been doing?

“Some of them have been there for 10 years. What have they been doing?”

In response, Namdas said ”we believe that the president can hold an opinion as regards the performance of individual members of the National Assembly”.

“In fact, our constituents have been doing just that – members of the national assembly have been replaced by their constituents as a result of such opinions.

“However, we want to believe that the president was not questioning the role of the National Assembly as an institution of democracy because that will be a worrying sign that our democracy will be in peril.”

Read Also: Obasanjo’s greatest mistake was not jailing Buhari –Fani-Kayode

Meanwhile, on the 2017 budget, Namdas said that the budget was meant to run for 12 months and that nobody had been short-changed.

“Off course, we had passed this budget earlier, and I can tell that the level of performance will not be here at the moment.

“The budget is a law; even, this 2018 budget that was just passed by the National Assembly, we stated clearly that it should run for 12 months.

“So, even if we had passed the budget earlier than now, it cannot take effect until we amend that aspect of the 12 calendar months,” he explained.

The lawmaker also commended the president for last year’s budget and the 2018 Appropriation Bill, saying that set aside N1.2 trillion for capital expenditure.

 

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