The Presidency has yesterday denied allegations circulating as regards the integrity of the 2016 Budget especially as fresh claims have been made that the 2016 budget was padded to the tune of N40 billion.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang and Hon. Ismail Kawu, on Tuesday wile addressing the accusations noted that the President, Muhammadu Buhari did not sign a padded budget.
Following a meeting which lasted over three hours with the APC leadership, Senator Ita Enang said: “I am here on the invitation of the leadership of the APC with my colleague to bring answers to issues raised by the party on the 2016 Appropriation and we have been with the party for a little over three hours. We have given explanations to them on every issue and told them that there was nothing, to our knowledge, like padding of the budget.
“The budget as assented to by Mr. President is the budget as passed by the National Assembly and that is the budget being executed.
“But as of now, the party is handling it as a domestic issue, and all of us are enjoined not to make public comment on the details because the matter is still under consideration.
“So, that is what we will want to say for now, we will not want to go into the details of it so that we will not breach the ethics of the party, the directives of the party or pre-empt anything or any outcome of the party investigation.”
Further defending the Presidency, Ita Enang said: “we came here as persons who works as liaison officers on the budget because the party had questions for us and we came to make clarifications on the issues raised.
“We have made those clarifications and would not want to draw any conclusion. Please let us not go too far by mentioning any office. Let it be that the two of us appeared before the party.
“In all our years of legislative engagement, we are yet to find in the legislative lexicon the word ‘padding’. When the budget is presented before the legislature, the legislature is to consider the budget and pass as they deem fit.
“So what the legislature pass becomes the appropriation upon accent. Therefore, any word which is yet to crystallize in legislative lexicon, you cannot hear us mention it.”
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