We Are All Part Of The Rots In Nigeria–Saraki tells Obj

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Tuesday said the problem confronting Nigeria at the moment should be blamed on all political stakeholders in Nigeria, most especially from 1999 till date, arguing that no one should be spared in particular.He said all public office holders in Nigeria since 1999, were involved at different times in the mistakes of the past that led the country to its present political and economic woes.
Saraki said this against the backdrop of allegation of profligacy leveled by former President Olusegun Obasanjo against the National Assembly as contained in a letter he wrote to the leadership some few days ago.
As if reacting on posers raised by Obasanjo on National Assembly budget, Saraki while inaugurating the new media office for Senate Correspondents said it was wrong for anybody to hold an individual or group of people responsible for the mess of the past.
He said, ” We’ve all been here since 1999 up to the recent past when things were not done right, we are all part of it.  I was there, you were there, every other political office holders in different capacities were there as well.
“My own view ‪from the 8th National Assembly is that the time for collective participation for the good of all Nigerians is here with us in line with the change mantra of the present administration . We are all on the same page for things to be done differently.
“I think what we need now from all stakeholders , is more of cooperation, encouragement and participation  as oppose to trying to hold one person responsible for the mistakes of the past that we are all part of .It is clearly not the right thing needed now.
“I Appeal to you, I appeal to all Nigerians that we should work together just as I assure you all that we will do well here in NASS to practically complement the change agenda”.
He, however, assured Nigerians that the details of the N115 billion National Assembly budget on section by section basis, would be transparently put into the public domain this year as against the practice of one item of the past.
The Senate President said the National Assembly would soon come up with an amendment bill on the procurement process towards ensuring strict and transparent implementation of the N6.08trillion 2016 budget.
He said the Senate at the moment, was committed to ensuring that the 2016 budget records a high level of implementation, as according to him, the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government are busy defending their budgets.
He said, “Before we put our signatories to it, we need to be sure if it’s implementability”
He said the Senate will henceforth concentrate attention on successful implementation of the budget by closely monitoring areas of generation revenue from independent sources to close the huge funding deficit.