Padded Budget: Buhari Fires DG Budget Office

Padded Budget: Buhari Fires DG Budget Office

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Tijjani Abdullahi as the new Director-General in charge of the Budget Office of the Federation, after sacking former DG, Yahaya Gusau, over an alleged padding of the budget.

Buhari also approved the appointment of Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget and National Planning.

Abdullahi, who is a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of high repute with experience in managing public finance, will replace Gusau.

Gusau, who replaced Bright Okogu (who completed two terms of office), was appointed to the office on August 18, 2015, for a term of four years that could have been renewed for another four years.

But he has now been sacked less than six months after, following the widespread irregularities detected in the 2016 budget presently under consideration by the National Assembly.

It was learnt the president believed that the sacked DG failed to effectively deliver on his mandate.

The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation, a statement by the presidency said.