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Fayose Berates 2017 FG Budget
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has criticised President Mohammadu Buhari-led administration over its plan to borrow funds to finance the 2017 budget, saying such will spell doom for the nation’s economy.
The governor spoke yesterday at the Government House in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during the distribution of 7,000 eye-glasses to indigent Ekiti people with bad eye-sight.
Buhari had last week Tuesday presented a budget of N7.298 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly for 2017 fiscal year.
Fayose, who was reacting to the Federal Government on recent confession that 2016 budget of over N6trillion, had performed at only about 40 per cent said: “If we borrow this much to finance 2017 budget, it means we will continue to borrow even till 2019 and the rate at which this government is borrowing money, I hope they will not plunge Nigeria into eternal debt, enslavement and misery. This has been the fear of many who are against borrowing of $30 billion loan. And they will continue to borrow without attempting to concretely tackle the dwindling rate of our currency.
“What the Federal Government is doing is in the wrong direction. You see, one sad thing is that once the head is wrong, the whole body would not be right. The Federal Government under Buhari does not have what it takes to lead this country economically and beyond. They themselves confirmed that the 2016 budget performed at about 40 percent or below.
“So, that is to tell you that they lack the vision, and don’t know what they are doing and are only deceiving Nigerians.”
On the motive behind the distribution of the eye-glasses, Fayose said the scheme was meant to benefit poor and visually impaired people who cannot afford eye-glasses and whose bad eye-sight was affecting their performance at work or handiwork.
He said: “We have done this before and these are the benefits that can get to the common people. The benefit is for those with impaired sight for a long time and couldn’t get solution. We have taken this to them tested them and diagonised the recommended glasses. And today we are giving the glasses to them. You cannot imagine that people can wake up without a N100 in their pockets, not to talk of affording a eyeglass of N7,000. The project is targeted at 7,000 people and is costing government about N59million. This project continues and we’ve already included it in next year budget.
Mrs. Teniola Oso, who spoke on behalf of the management of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), which power the scheme said: “the Oju Ayo programme is a form of poverty alleviation programme directed at the poor in our communities who out of poor vision and near blindness has lost all means of survival resulting into poverty and its associated challenges.
“The programme is for all people living in Ekiti State without racial or political colouration. Our team visited all the local governments in the state to test people in need of reading glasses within a period of 16 days, where those in need were identified diagnosed and processed leading to this distribution ceremony today”.
Meanwhile,the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as an irresponsible and corrupt organisation that cannot prosecute any meaningful fight against corruption, saying, “corruption can never fight corruption.”
The governor, who commended the judiciary for standing firm against the EFCC tyranny, said the way and manner the commission has been going about shopping for court orders against Nigerians should concern lovers of rule of law in the country.
Reacting to the Monday’s Federal High Court, Abuja judgment, ordering the EFCC to release all his properties based on the order of the court made on July 20 and August 2, 2016, Governor Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka said, “It is the height of irresponsibility and fraud for the EFCC to have approached Justice Okon Abang for a similar order and concealed the fact that the order obtained from Justice Dimgba elapsed on September 3, and had failed to approach the same court for an extension.”
The governor said; “The EFCC and its corrupt elements fraudulently approached Justice Abang, knowing that the judge himself is fraudulent as established by the Court of Appeal and the same EFCC has even moved to the Federal High Court, Akure in search of another order, ostensibly because they have realised that the judge in the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti won’t play ball.
“Justice Dimgba gave interim orders on July 20, and reaffirmed on August 3, and the orders were made to last for 45 days to enable EFCC carry out its investigations. Instead of going back to the same court, the EFCC ran to Justice Abang, a judge already adjudged to be fraudulent by the Appeal Court to obtain another order.
“Should we now say that 45 days was inadequate for the any meaningful investigation to be carried out by the EFCC if indeed the commission was interested in investigating anything? Didn’t EFCC carry out its investigation before going to court to seek order to seize the properties?”
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