Throwback News On What GEJ Said About Budget Padding

For those still blaming Buhari for challenging the budget
padding tradition at the expense of a delayed passage of the
2016 budget.

President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday that he
would sack all Heads of Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) who lobbied the National Assembly to
distort the 2012 budget. The President stated this in his
remarks shortly after signing the 2012 appropriation bill
into law at the State House in Abuja. Mr. Jonathan said
the attitude of MDAs lobbying for increase of their budget
by the National Assembly had been responsible for the
difficulties in budget implementation. He said that he
already had security information on some heads of
Parastatals and Agencies who lobbied the National
Assembly to increase the 2012 Budget and says he will
make scapegoats of them. “One of the greatest problems
I have noticed from the day I resumed office as a vice
president in 2007 till date is that Federal Government
budgets have not been based on proper planning. “In
most cases, when the budget comes out from the
Planning Ministry and Finance, along the line, people
distort the budget, especially some heads of MDAs go to
lobby the National Assembly to put figures that are not
based on planning. “And that is why it has been very
difficult for federal government to achieve targets.