Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogwu, has been summoned by members of the Federal House of Representatives to explain an action interpretable as contempt, over the 2013 Appropriation Act.
The lower chamber mandated its Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance to engage Okogwu in order to ascertain the intent of a letter he allegedly wrote, directing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ignore the 2013 Appropriation Act.
Minority Whip Samson Osagie raised the motion under matter of urgent national importance, describing Okogwu’s action as an infraction on the powers of the National Assembly.
Osagie, who was in possession of a copy of the circular, branded Okogwu’s action as tantamount to a desperate attempt to blackmail the Legislature.
“We must sound a note of warning here that no proposed amended budget shall be implemented by the MDAs, other than what was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the president,” he said.
Other lawmakers who spoke in favour of the motion include Jagaba Adams Jagaba, Abdulmumin Jubrin, Aliyu Madaki, Jerry Manwe, Sunday Adepoju, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and Musa Adar.
Adams Jagaba described the Okogwu’s purported letter as “executive recklessness” with bad intentions, urging relevant standing committees to meticulously carry out oversight functions to check abuses in the implementation of the Appropriation Act.
On her part, Abike Dabiri-Erewa argued that the circular was “fraudulent in every sense of the word.”
Also speaking, Jerry Manwe viewed Okogwu’s letter as an attempt to usurp the powers of the National Assembly to appropriate, as the purported letter may be suggesting to MDAs that they can now lobby the Budget Office of the Federation to get any adjustments sought to their budgets.
However, Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor implored the House to first accord Okogwu the opportunity to explain the content of the circular, saying the House would be properly guided to take a better position after due consultation.
