There
was an online controversy on Wednesday, as millions of Nigerians and foreigners
mocked the National Assembly over the reported missing 2016 appropriation
document.
An
online media broke the “missing document” story on Tuesday, a development that
attracted scathing criticisms from many stakeholders. Many described the
‘speculation’ as the height of mischief by the lawmakers.
In
the early hours of Wednesday, a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan,
Reno Omokri, mocked the National Assembly on Twitter.
He
satirically called on the organisers of the Gulder Ultimate Search to dedicate
the next edition of the annual television reality show to searching for the
“missing document.”
“In
case you buy akara, corn, suya or anything that can be wrapped with paper,
please check that the wrapping paper is not the #MissingBudget. I think the
#MissingBudget should be the object of the next Gulder Ultimate Search,”
tweeted Omokri.
Interestingly,
there was a mild drama on Twitter on Wednesday when a Qatar-based tweeter,
Nasser Al-Saadi, urged Nigerian social media users to leave him out of the
“missing document” palaver and channel their questions to the appropriate
authorities.
Al-Saadi
got into ‘trouble’ because of his Twitter handle – @nass. As Nigerian tweeters
dismissed issues bearing on NASS, which had started trending since Tuesday,
their tweets flooded the foreigner’s timeline.
“My
mention is on fire at the moment. Salute to people from Nigeria.
“Nigerians
are asking me about their missing budget.
“Dear
people of Nigeria, it is too late in #Qatar and I need to sleep. Take a break
and start ranting tomorrow,” the tweeter said.
“@Nass,
you have to change your Twitter handle. Otherwise, our National Assembly and
its members will force us to continue to flood your timeline,” responded a
Nigerian.
The
Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had dismissed the report, saying the document was not
missing.
In
a comment posted on the Senate’s Facebook page, he said, “The budget cannot be
missing. The budget will be in custody of both chambers of the National
Assembly. It cannot be stolen. It cannot be missing. Once the budget is before
the National Assembly, it has become the property of the National Assembly.
On
the visit of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to President Muhammadu Buhari
after the report went viral, Ndume said, “Saraki's visit to the Villa is for
Senate to know the President's priority. We want to see how we can fast track
the passage of the budget before the end of February. What is before the Senate
is a proposal; once the president signs it, there can be no amendment. We can
turn the budget upside down, it cannot be missing.”
Despite
the lawmaker’s denial, many Nigerians continued to criticise the National
Assembly over the issue. Some people described it as the height of official
negligence.
One
Devine Prosper wrote, “Our lawmakers have disappointed us. We don't need
Ndume’s make-up story; they all deserve to be recalled.”
On
its part, Akolo Anzaku described “the loss” as connivance between the parliament
and the executive to tinker with figures on the document. He, however, noted
that Nigerians would not be fooled, especially as they had already taken note
of the content of the Appropriation Bill.
Many
commenters had also queried the proposal; especially the amount budgeted for
the maintenance of the Presidential Villa. The critics said the figures did not
show that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was ready to
deviate from the perennial waste confronting the nation’s development.
As
of Wednesday, there was online circulation of the soft copies of the bill.
Those who posted them urged the National Assembly to visit the Internet to
gather its pieces, supposing it was no longer in either executive or
legislative official files.
As
laughable as the advice sounded, that some Nigerians had already downloaded and
kept copies of the yet-to-be approved document seem to underscore the level of
vigilance among digital media users.
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