Why Buhari refused to approve constituency projects of lawmakers in 8th Senate

A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said former President Muhammadu Buhari refused to approve funds for constituency projects of members of the Eighth Senate because he wanted to punish the lawmakers for questioning his loan requests.

Mr Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said this in a statement by his media office on Thursday.

He was responding to the accusation against his leadership of not fully funding constituency projects of the senators.

Mr Saraki served as senate president between 2015 to 2019

The incumbent Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during the plenary on Wednesday, subtly mocked the leadership style of Mr Saraki, saying he was not able to facilitate complete funding of the constituency projects at the time.

“I was part of the Nigerian Senate, not Saraki’s Senate. This is the Nigerian Senate. If you say I was part of Saraki’s Senate, it means I was part of those who paid 40 per cent of the constituency projects, and 60 per cent has not been paid up till today. I don’t want to be part of that, ” Mr Akpabio said during the plenary.

But Mr Saraki, in the statement by head of his media office, Yusuph Olaniyonu, explained that Mr Buhari was hostile to members of the Eighth National Assembly because they constantly scrutinised and checkmated his loan requests.

“For clarification, the Saraki Media Office will want members of the public to note that then President Muhammadu Buhari deliberately refused to approve funds for the constituency projects of members of the Eighth National Assembly obviously to punish the members for questioning some of the loan requests presented by the executive before the legislature,” the statement said.

Read the full statement

Akpabio Knows Why Buhari Refused to Fund 8th Senate Constituency Projects

The Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office today notes the news reports arising from an exchange on the floor of the Senate in which the incumbent Senate President, Mr. Godswill Akpabio accused the leadership of the 8th Senate of not fully funding the constituency projects of members.

Our initial response was to ignore the report because Dr. Saraki believes there are more serious existential issues confronting our country and her people like hunger and extreme hardship which should keep the leaders disturbed, busier, and more focused than throwing banters.

However, he has also been persuaded by the need to explain the project funding process in the budget such that members of the public will not be misguided about the roles of the various institutions and individuals in the process.

For clarification, the Saraki Media Office will want members of the public to note that then President Muhammadu Buhari deliberately refused to approve funds for the constituency projects of members of the Eighth National Assembly obviously to punish the members for questioning some of the loan requests presented by the executive before the legislature.

Instead of viewing the legislature’s scrutiny of the loan’s request and the demand for elaborate explanations that would help in making informed decisions as democratic necessities, the Buhari government’s reaction was to be hostile and to seek to stifle the performance of the legislature.

The refusal to fund constituency projects of members of the legislature was used as one of the retaliatory instruments. That was the experience of the 8th National Assembly. Mr. Akpabio, as Senate minority leader for over three years in the four-year tenure of the 8th Senate, ought to know better and even his experience as Senate President in the last eight months also ought to have made him more informed.

Therefore, Mr. Akpabio is very well aware that the leadership of the Eighth Senate cannot be held responsible for failure to fund constituency projects. Unfortunately, he chose to play politics with facts, and as usual, make a joke and jest with serious national issues.

Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Head, Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office