A
former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday described the
ongoing national conference as a waste of public funds.
He
said at the opening of the inaugural edition of the PGF Progressive
Governors-Legislative-Civil Society Roundtable in Abuja, that the huge amount
being spent on the entire process, should have been put to better use.
Buhari,
an All Progressives Congress national leader, argued that what the
conference was trying to achieve was what the National Assembly was in a
better position to do.
He
said, “What I say about the conference is a personal view. What the conference
is doing is the duty of
the National Assembly.
“The
elite should have call themselves together and ask the National
Assembly to sponsor a bill for some amendments to the constitution.
“I
do not think that at this time when government is finding it
difficult to pay salaries of workers, it can afford about N7bn to waste on a
conference.”
Also
at the event, Senator Bukola Saraki said the current
administration needed to be more transparent in the management of the
nation’s funds.
He
explained that the lack of transparency was partly responsible for the impunity
of the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government.
Saraki
said, it was only in Nigeria that a President could afford to commit an
impeachable offence by spending huge public revenue outside
appropriation without consequences.
He
argued that the money being spent on the national conference
was not contained in the 2014 budget.
“I
told my colleagues that it might probably be coming from the missing $20bn.”
Saraki, a former Kwara State governor and APC leader added.
He
also noted that the controversial subsidy regime posed a great danger to
the economy itself.
The
lawmaker said, “Let us not allow anybody to deceive us; the problem is
not the subsidy but it’s management.
“The
country does not use more 35 million litres of PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) while
a look at cost profile shows a huge difference that indicates that we
cannot consume more 35 million litres.”
According
to him, an efficient petrol subsidy management can solve most of the problems
being experienced in the country.
The
Director General of the PGF, Salisu Lukeman, said concerns over
institutionalised corruption informed the forum’s decision to
liaise with APC members in the National Assembly to do
something to keep the fight against graft in the front burner.
Lukeman
explained that the outcome of the interface would form the basis of
new strategies to fight corruption.
Also,
the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Abu Ibrahim, said
the round table was the first of its kind in the country.
He
said that APC members in the National Assembly would try to
push through the resolutions at the round table in the National Assembly.
The
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajamila, said the party
had once again taken up topics that are germane to national
development.
He
explained that the party, through roundtable, had made it very clear that
good governance was its priority.
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