Dino Melaye, a senator from Kogi west, has described the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF), which the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the national assembly as a “lie and a fraud”.
In the document, the 2017 budget was predicated on an oil benchmark of $42 per barrel, and an exchange rate of 290 per dollar.
Speaking on the MTEF on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday, the legislator wondered what happened to the previous proposal which the senate passed last year.
He asked the senate to reject the proposal, and return it to the executive.
Advertisement
“This document is a lie. It is not truthful, and it is not transparent,” he said.
“We need to know the level of compliance of the MTEF we passed last year. Is this MTEF predicated on the loan the executive want to take? Governance is about truth, it is about opening yourself to the people. The exchange rate of 290 per dollar is a lie. This is a fraud.
“This house is the house of the people. We should not out of fear or intimidation refuse to speak the truth. This document should go back to where it came from.”
Advertisement
On November 3, Ali Ndume, senate leader, had also described the proposal as “empty”.
2 comments
Senator Dino Maleye,has said it all.The Term Expenditure Framework,is actually very fraudulent.How can you base your FX on $1=#290? When in reality it is $1=#304 in the inter-BANK market and $1=#399 or #400 in the parallel market.
Again,the Federal government refuse to expansiate if the budget is based on the foreign loan of $29 or $30 billion sort after,which was rejected outrightly by the upper chamber.
In dealing with issues of this magnitude,the government should be able to come out clean.After all,it is the same people that voted the current Administration in,that they are trying to hoodwink.
May God Almight , Allah bless u. Infact u are courageous indeed.