Presidency denies withdrawing document, says NASS should be held responsible

dimeji akinloye

January 12, 2016 9:03 PM

He said the National Assembly should be held responsible for the missing document.

The Presidency has dismissed reports that President Muhammadu Buhari withdrew the 2016 budget which he presented to the National Assembly last December.

This is in reaction to reports that the national budget has gone missing from the Chambers of the National Assembly.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu made the clarification today, January 12.

He said the National Assembly should be held responsible for the missing document as it ceases to be a property of the Presidency once it has been presented to the upper chambers.

"Nobody, except the president, can withdraw the budget. As far as we know, he (the president) has not done that. The copies in their hundreds have been delivered to both chambers of the National Assembly.

"By tradition, once the budget is submitted, it ceases to be our property. Enquiries as to where it is should be directed to the appropriate quarters", Shehu said.

READ: Saraki meets Buhari, declines comment on 'missing' National Budget

Senate leader, Ali Ndume, today, announced at the first plenary session in 2016, that the hard and soft copies of the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget document are no where to be found.

dimeji akinloye