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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara to open the financial records of the National Assembly since 1999 for external bodies.
Besides, Obasanjo said that the National Assembly should also have the courage to publish its recurrent budgets for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 for transparency and accountability.
The former President’s views are contained in a January 13th, 2016 letter.
Obasanjo, Nigeria’s president between 1999 and 2007, accused members of the National Assembly of lawlessness and abuse of the constitution by overturning the recommendation of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission on their entitlements and emoluments.
He urged them to return to the path of “honour, distinguishness, sensitivity and responsibility.”
Obasanjo said that cars for legislators would fall into the same category of reckless expenditure. They are unnecessary and insensitive.
A pool of a few cars for each Chamber, he said, will suffice for any Committee Chairman or members for any specific duty.
The former President insisted that the waste that had gone into cars, furniture, housing renovation in the past, was mind-boggling and these are veritable sources of waste and corruption.
“That was why they were abolished. Bringing them back is inimical to the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians,” he said.
The National Assembly, he said, should take a step back and do what is right not only in making its own budget transparent but in all matters of financial administration and management including audit of its accounts by external outside auditor from 1999 to date.
