Abuja – The Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data initiative (ARDI), an NGO, has sued the Attorney-General of the Federation, seeking an interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution on appropriation.
The Executive Secretary of the organisation, Mr Dennis Aghanya, said in a statement in Abuja on Monday, that the action was instituted at the Federal High Court, Abuja, No: FHC/ABJ/CS/884/2016.
Aghanya, in the statement, said that the action became necessary to prevent the country from experiencing another delay in the passage of the 2017 budget.
He explained that the measure was in line with the mandate of ARDI in its efforts to strengthen the nation’s democracy and ensure transparent, accountable and responsive governance devoid of corruption in the society.
“As we are all aware, the budget has been an issue of contention between the Executive and the Legislative arms of government.”
He said that a research on the nation’s budget experience from 1999 to date showed that most business activities suffered adversely due to the late passage of the budget.
He said that the attorney-general needed to make a declaration as to whether the National Assembly could unilaterally tinker with the budget without the consent of the Executive.
According to him, slow commencement of economic activities every year are usually linked to the late passage of the budget.
“The 2016 Budget presentation and its final approval processes were characterised by bickering, leading to late passage of the budget.”
“Due to the delay in passing the 2016 budget, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), businesses, manufacturers, construction companies and most Nigerians in other sectors of the economy experienced serious economic challenges.’’
The Executive Secretary noted that the Nigerian economy suffers each time controversies arose concerning the budget.
