Alterations in 2022 Budget; Presidency clears air on relationship with National Assembly

The Presidency has debunked alleged crisis between the ex­ecutive and the National As­sembly over alterations in the 2022 budget.

Recall, part of the worrisome changes made to the Budget by the National Assembly according to President Muhammadu Buhari, was reduction in Police and Navy allowance among others.

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, re­acted to the allegation, saying while it is true that the presi­dent expressed disagreement with these and many of the other alterations, including the “reduction in the pro­visions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment Projects’,” innumerable lies are being spread about the president being “angry” at, had “blast­ed” or “lashed out” at the Par­liament.

He said this cannot be far­ther from the truth.

“While we note that there are people who are trying to create a fiasco between the two arms of government on account of the budget, we as­sure that they will, in the end, be disappointed.

“The executive and the 9th National Assembly have since moved away from the wild, de­structive political games of the past, conducting themselves in a way that puts national inter­est supreme in their decisions.

“We doubt if there is a pa­triotic citizen who wants to see the return of the operating environment engendered by the 8th Senate when an elect­ed government was held in chains, held hostage to the des­perate political ambitions of a clique, and the public denied needed services including that which impinged on national security. “Happily, the 9th Na­tional Assembly is more about policy than politics.”