President Buhari welcomes constructive criticism - presidency

The Presidency on Sunday said the N6.08trn budget proposal for 2016 currently before the National Assembly is still open to comments and reproach from the public.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday.

Shehu said the Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to welcome what he called well-meaning criticism of its policies, its budget and expenditure.


He said that was the only way the change promised the country would have a meaning.

He said it was based on this conviction and in line with established tradition that the President directed that the draft 2016 appropriation budget be put on the website of the Budget Office so that Nigerians can read it with a view to making their observations.

The presidential spokesman said suggestions to the effect that the Presidency is misleading the public on any aspects of the budget cannot therefore stand the test of time.

He recalled that based on a recent report on the allocation to the State House Clinic in the budget, the Budget Office supplied a summary of the allocations to the various sectors under the Ministry of Health, which showed clearly that the published story was inaccurate.

He said office affirmed that in terms of both capital and recurrent allocations, the draft budget had put more money in the 17 teaching hospitals than it did in the State House Clinic.

Shehu said, “We are not by any stretch of imagination suggesting that the draft budget is beyond comments or reproach. Nor do we wish to dwell on this simply to make a point.

“To do that will drive away good citizens from pointing out needed corrections and, ultimately defeating the change mantra of the administration.

“The budget is a Nigerian budget and citizens reserve the right to examine its content and provide their own perspectives.

“As the draft goes through the approval process, this and many other aspects will continue to generate interest, criticism, commendation and sometimes condemnation in discussions in the parliament, the media and the court of public opinion.

“We believe that the process of ‘change’ will be affected by, and stands to gain from these debates especially where there is good faith on all sides.

“Government has no reason whatsoever to mislead the citizens on the budget and on all other matters for whatever reason.”