Senate faults Buhari’s rejection of N90b refund to Taraba, Delta

The Senate has described as false and misleading claims by President Muhammadu Buhari that National Assembly’s approval for refunds to Delta and Taraba for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government was different from what the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved.

The upper legislative chamber stated that it approved the exact figures for the states that was submitted to it by the Executive through the Ministry of Finance as stated on Page 402 of a document titled “Federal Ministry of Finance Submission of Federal Government of Nigeria Outstanding Liabilities to National Assembly, May, 2018.”

The President had claimed in his letter to the National Assembly dated March 5, 2019 that “While the Federal Executive Council approved N78,601,631,430.16 as reimbursement to Delta and Taraba state governments, the National Assembly approved N90,236,461,031.36, which is higher than the amount approved by the Federal Executive Council.”

A statement by Senate President Bukola Saraki through his Media Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, reads in part: “The Senate would like to clarify that the breakdown which the Executive through the Ministry of Finance submitted to the National Assembly showed that the outstanding liability due to Taraba State is N22, 254,062,330.08 while that of Delta is N67,982, 398,701. 28 while the total for the two states is N90,236,461, 031. 36.

“Therefore, the National Assembly approved the figures submitted to it by the Ministry of Finance as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government. At no time did the executive forwarded the figure of N78, 601, 631, 430, 16 to us and we do not know where the President got that figure from.“We have decided to make this clarification to set the records straight and disabuse the minds of the public. We believe the President must have been misinformed and misadvised by his aides while writing the letter he sent on this issue to the National Assembly.”