The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has faulted the 2023 budget recently presented before the National Assembly by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), citing the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
He made this known at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria’s conference in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme, “Nigeria: Adopting Sustainability for Economic Prosperity”.
Sowore said, “The budget President Buhari presented to the National Assembly is illegal. It runs foul of Section 12 (1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which puts the deficit to GDP ratio at less than three percent. What President Muhammadu Buhari presented was about five percent.”
He also noted that the country cannot afford to elect a sick president into office in 2023.
“Those of you who made a bet that a certain presidential candidate would not show up today, clap for yourself, you won.
“The candidate that didn’t show up is supposed to be an accounting guru from the Chicago State University, but he refused to show up at the most important Accountants’ event in Nigeria today. Don’t forget, as I’ve said, I’ll not talk about other candidates, but the country, Nigeria and the future of Nigeria cannot also continue to expect unsustainable candidates in 2023,” he said.
He, however, took a swipe at the suspended former Accountant General, Ahmed Idris, concerning his alleged money laundering case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
“I would have loved to stand in front of you and talk about sustainability, but I am here to talk about things that are no longer sustainable anywhere in Nigeria. I want to talk about one of you that carried out an unsustainable act of accounting, which is the stealing of over N150billion by an Accountant General of the Federation, that is not sustainable.”
