National Assembly's delay in passing 2018 budget should feature in Guinness Book of Records - Garba Shehu

- Senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, has criticised the eight National Assembly for passing the 2018 budget late

- Shehu says the passage of the 2018 budget by NASS should feature in the Guinness Book of Records

- The presidential aide made the comment on Monday, May 27

Senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, has said the delay in the passage of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly should feature in the Guinness Book of Records.

Shehu, who made the comment on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily on Monday, May 27, said the National Assembly would have summoned ministers accused of not defending their budgets before the lawmakers instead of passing the 2018 budget late.

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Legit.ng notes that the presidential aide said: “The delay which was experienced in 2018 in which the national assembly held unto the budget for seven months is good enough for the Guinness Book of Records and the president lamented this.

“Let me say that the President is very methodical in dealing with matters such as this. A president could sit in that powerful office and act like he knows it all and I think in this country, we have had such presidents but President Buhari is different because whenever bills come for signature, he will ask that a long list of stakeholders be drawn up. For example, the minimum wage bill which he signed.

“Prior to that, labour groups had been demanding that he sign immediately but he refused and identified all stakeholders, ministers and even the judiciary were made to sign off on it and when this process is on, it takes a lot of time.

“However, the point is that at the end of it, a thorough job is done so that the President does not sign stupid documents and that is important for this country.”

Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari described as unpatriotic the action of the Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara-led National Assembly in terms of budget handling.

The president spoke during a special interview broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority on Monday, May 27.

On the 2018 budget, the president said he spoke directly with Saraki and Dogara to express his displeasure over the delay in passing the budget.

The president said: “I think a culture was developed in the National Assembly that they should dictate the terms, which was wrong. It is the executive that dictates the terms and takes it before the legislature. It (the legislature) will examine it and agree or disagree with it.

“But when they go around posing that they are the government and not the executive, then that’s the problem. I felt and I spoke personally to the Senate President, Saraki, and the leader of the House, Dogara. They could not deny it.

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“I asked them how they felt to hold the country at ransom for seven months without passing a budget. Unfortunately, they were not hurting me; they were hurting the country. So, really, in terms of patriotism, I think I rated them very low indeed. But to hold a budget for seven months cannot be justified if you really bother about the country.”

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Source: Legit