President Muhammadu Buhari vowed late Tuesday that all those
involved in the "padding" of the 2016 National Budget will face the
most severe punishment.
Addressing the Nigerian Community in Saudi Arabia, President
Buhari condemned the distortion of the budget proposals by entrenched
interests.
The president said the "unauthorised alterations"
had completely changed the document from the one he presented to the National
Assembly, a statement by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said.
"The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a
military governor, petroleum minister, military Head of State and headed the
Petroleum Trust Fund.
"Never had I heard the words 'budget padding'. Our
Minister of Budget and National Planning did a great job with his team. The
Minister became almost half his size during the time, working night and day to
get the budget ready, only for some people to pad it.
"What he gave us was not what was finally being
debated. It is very embarrassing and disappointing. We will not allow those who
did it to go unpunished," President Buhari vowed.
The 2016 budget has been steeped in controversy after
several reports revealed inflated allocation of funds and multibillion naira
phoney subheads smuggled into the budget.
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