SAN FRANCISCO, February 03, (THEWILL) – The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki on Tuesday declared that all who occupied public offices since 1999 till date should, in one way or the other, share in the blame for past mistakes that plunged the country into the present political and economic morass being currently experienced.
Saraki, who insisted that it was wrong for anybody to claim that an individual or group of persons are solely responsible for the mess of the past, spoke in response to allegations of non-transparency of the National Assembly budget and corruption leveled against the parliament by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo, had in a letter addressed to Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, accused members of the National Assembly of corruption and extravagant wastage of the nation’s resources despite the harsh economic reality confronting the nation.
While fielding questions from Senate correspondents, Saraki argued that rather than trade blames on the woes currently afflicting the country, what is needed from all stakeholders is collective participation for the good of all Nigerians.
He went on to promise that details of the N115bn National Assembly budget would be transparently put into the public domain section by section this year as against the practice of one item of the past.
According to the Senate President, “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 holder 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,” Saraki stated.
