President Muhammadu Buhari has given instructions for the draft 2016 budget proposal to be put on the website for Nigerians to view and make input.
This was disclosed in a statement, issued yesterday by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu. He said the directive that the 2016 budget be posted online is the only way that the change promised Nigerians would have a meaning.
The statement also debunked claims that the presidency was misleading the public on aspects of the budgets.
Mallam Shehu also traced to a report on one of the national dailies with the headline, ‘2016 Budget: Buhari to spend more on State House Clinic than on all federal govt-owned teaching hospitals. He said the Budget Office supplied a summary of the allocations to the various sectors under the Ministry of Health, which showed clearly that the published story was inaccurate.
He said: “The budget office has affirmed that in terms of both capital and recurrent allocations, the draft budget has put far more money in the 17 teaching hospitals than it did in the state house clinic.
“Having said this, we are not by any stretch of imagination suggesting that the draft budget is beyond comments or reproach. Nor do we wish to dwell on this simply to make a point. To do that will drive away good citizens from pointing out needed corrections and, ultimately defeating the change mantra of the
“As the draft goes through the approval process, this and many other aspects will continue to generate interest, criticism, commendation and sometimes condemnation in discussions in the parliament, the media and the court of public opinion.’’
“We believe that the process of ‘change’ will be affected by, and stands to gain form these debates especially where there is good faith on all sides. Government has no reason whatsoever to mislead the citizens on the budget and on all other matters for whatever reason”
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