President Muhammadu Buhari, has assured Nigerians that the individuals involved in the padding of the 2016 budget will be punished severely.
According to a statement put out by the presidential aide on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the president stated this on Tuesday, while speaking with the Nigerian community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The statement reads: “The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a military governor, petroleum minister, military Head of State and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund.”
“Never had I heard the words ‘budget padding’. Our Minister of Budget and National Planning did a great job with his team. The Minister became almost half his size during the time, working night and day to get the budget ready, only for some people to pad it.”
“What he gave us was not what was finally being debated. It is very embarrassing and disappointing. We will not allow those who did it to go unpunished.”
“We have zero tolerance for corruption and other unethical practices. We will deal decisively with anybody found wanting,” he promised members of the Nigerian community.
On Boko Haram terrorism, the president said: “Our armed forces have done a great job of dealing decisively with Boko Haram.”
“We are collaborating with our neighbours in the operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force to handle security threats in the sub-region and we have significantly destroyed the capacity of the insurgents.”
