Buhari Makes History; sends NNPC, CBN, other secret budgets to National Assembly

When President Muhammadu Buhari said there is no more hiding place for looters or room for people to loot our nation's treasury through secret budgets anymore, some thought he was joking.

Alas! Mr President has written himself into history as he forwarded budgets of agencies and corporations not captured in the national budget to the National Assembly for consideration.

President Buhari's action is predicated on his stand that government money must be spent openly.

And his position is backed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007. In a June 30 letter to Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, the president submitted budgets of 38 agencies and corporations.

The submitted budgets were that of:

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Others are Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Maritime Authority (NMA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerians Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigerians Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), among others. 

Mr president urged lawmakers to expedite action on the budgets.