The Federal Government may have fired the Director-General of the Budget Office, Yahaya Gusau, as a result of the poor handling of Budget 2016.
Presidency sources said Mr. Buhari believed that the sacked DG failed to effectively deliver on his mandate.
Yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mr. Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi to replace Gusau, who was appointed to the position last August.
The budget office has also been reorganized with the appointment of Mr. Ben Akabueze as Special Adviser on National Planning to the President. Akabueze, a former commissioner for Budget in Lagos State will work with the Minister for Budget and National Planning Mr. Udoma Udo-Udoma.
The statement by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President Mr. Femi Adesina, which announced the new appointees yesterday, did not give the reason for the change but it was learnt that the vow by the government to investigate the discrepancies in the submitted document and punish whoever is culpable, is the reason for the change.
Mr. Abdullahi, a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance.
He is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators and Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Yesterday, Senate Leader Ali Ndume said the problems with the 2016 budget as submitted is because it was rushed before submission to the National Assembly by the President.
He told reporters at the State House after meeting with the President that the problems associated with the document will be sorted out so that the bill can be passed and signed into law.
He said: “We are working on the budget daily. We are working on it collectively for the first time.
“The Executive and the Legislature are looking at the budget collectively.
This is the first time we will be doing it this way.
“The matter is not about a date. If we can finish it today, we will hand it over for signature tomorrow.
“In those days, we just passed budgets that were normally not implemented. This is the first time we are doing a budget that the President is looking forward to implementing.
“This budget was done in a rush and you know there are some issues that are cropping up. It is no longer going to be business as usual.
“So, those unusual things, if detected, we will work on them. It is not as if we are holding on to the budget. We are working collectively.”
