• ‘2016 budget to meet MDAs policy targets’
THE Senate Leader in the National Assembly, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has said that the renewed fight against corruption in the country is a “big and second war” that could be even harder or tougher than Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in the North-East sub-region of the country.
Ndume, who disclosed this in Maiduguri while addressing newsmen during an interactive session on President Muhammadu Buhari’s 100 days in office at the Government House, Maiduguri, said the President during the 100 days in office was able to restore the confidence of the masses on good leadership, security and the implementation of machineries of fighting corruption in the country.
In another development, Ndume has said that the 2016 national budget would be realistic and based on the non-oil Internally-Generated Revenues (IGR) that could be fully implemented to realise and meet the policy and budgetary targets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.
He said: “The Nigerian government is trying to cut its coat according to its size. That is the first and important thing. You cannot cut your coat bigger than your size; and it will not fit. And that is what the government has been doing.
Government now is trying to do a realistic budget. Not only that, the government is so much concerned about our Internally-Generated Revenues (IGR). And that is very important in terms of budgeting.
Much of the time, this budget has been so much dependent on the revenue from the sale of our crude oil.” On how to fight corruption, Ndume said: “Coming to the issue of the war against anti-corruption; that is very dear to everybody and everybody is getting ready to put his house in order.
This is Nigeria; is no longer where you can go living lavishly with unexplained ways of life. “Nigeria has got too low that the President is getting it right by clearly defining our priorities.
In the national hierarchy of needs, the national hierarchy of needs; is the most popular. First, you have to save and protect yourself, which is the security assurance. These are the physiological needs.
You have to be secured; you have to be able to eat and take care of your home; before you look at other things of needs. “And I think that is what this government is doing; placing its priorities right. “I was asking these literarily questions that they are stealing crude oil, not refined oil.
If it is refined oil, you can understand that you can take it to the black market. Even if you steal crude oil, you export it. You cannot sell it in the black market. There must be an organised crime.
This is an organised crime. “I am happy that the President is looking into that. And I hope they will burst that very well and recover. Let all those crude oil that were stolen be traced and the proceeds of it recovered.
This fight against corruption is a big war. This is the second phase of war that may even be harder or tougher that Boko Haram. Corruption; as the President rightly pointed it out at the Nigerian Bar Association Conference.
He used that right sport to make that case of corruption in our country, Nigeria. “It is our same lawyers that will run to protect somebody that has stolen people’s money and caused many people to die, because the stolen funds were meant to build hospitals and roads. And the same lawyers now would start saying that the government has trumped on human rights.
Which one is more human rights offence that somebody, one person for him and his two children or three; they don’t even born many children. This kind of people that steal much public funds meant to take care of millions of Nigerian citizens.”
Guardian.
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