Budget Saga: Buhari Rejects National Assembly’s Suspicious Peace Deal

Story flying in NASS is that Bukola Saraki and senators close to him are frustrating the budget in order to force President Muhammadu Buhari to stop Saraki's prosecution and save him from going to jail.

But indications have emerged that the National Assembly’s peace moves with the executive over the 2016 budget crisis had flopped, as President Buhari has insisted he won't stop anybody's prosecution.

According to Punch, Mr President did not accept the suggestion against the backdrop that the distortions in the budget discovered in the document transmitted by the National Assembly were too many.

A minister said both arms of government had been discussing the issue, but the President had been advised by members of his cabinet not to sign the appropriation bill until all projects that would benefit the majority of Nigerians are brought back into the budget.

“The National Assembly has initiated some peace moves. The lawmakers have suggested that the budget should be signed by the President before he will send a supplementary budget to cover the omissions, but he had turned down the proposal,” the competent source revealed.

With the level of distortions noticed in the document sent to the President, there was no way he could have been advised to append his signature to the budget, said a presidency source.