By Deji Elumoye in Abuja
A member of the National Assembly, Senator Bukar Ibrahim, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari should not be blamed if the 2018 budget is not fully implemented.
Ibrahim, who represents Yobe East in the Senate, spoke Thursday at the public presentation of his book — Poorlitics: The Story of the Little Boy from Goniri, and The Progressives’ Manifesto — saying the possibility of wholistically implementing this year’s budget should be ruled out.
He said there was no time in the recent past that annual budgets were fully implemented, asking: “When have we implemented the federal budget 100 per cent?”
Ibrahim further said: “At times, the annual budgets are implemented between 50 and 70 per cent and there is no way any budget can go the whole 100 per cent implementation.”
He said there was nothing wrong in the National Assembly inserting some projects in the 2018 budget, adding that: “What does it really matter if certain projects that are considered important are inserted in this year’s budget by the legislature?”
The senator also hinted of his readiness to contest for the presidency “but that will be after the second term of President Muhammadu Buhari”.
He also said the Senate is not for the young per se “so at 69 years, I will continue to be in the Senate to contribute my quota towards the progress of the country through law making”.
