Buhari Meets Saraki, Dogara, in Closed Doors: Discuss Onnoghen, Niger Delta and 2017 Budget

The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, Tuesday afternoon held a closed-door meeting with President Muhammad Buhari in his office over the 2017 Budget.
It was the first meeting be­tween the National Assembly (NASS) leaders and Buhari since he returned from a med­ical vacation in London last Friday.

Buhari had yesterday writ­ten to the duo formally in­forming them of his return to the country and resumption of his official duties as President.
Apart from being a solidar­ity visit to the President, the NASS leaders were particular about the ongoing consider­ation of the 2017 Budget over which they had been regularly meeting with Buhari before he left for London nearly two months ago.
Emerging from the parley after about 40 minutes, Saraki told State House correspon­dents that the meeting was to keep the president abreast of what the legislature did with executive’s requests while he was away in London.
According to him, other is­sues discussed included the re­cent confirmation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Jus­tice Walter Onnoghen; inter­ventions to stabilise the Niger Delta region; pending ambas­sadorial nominations, among others.
Saraki, a medical doctor who didn’t want to be drawn into the debate on how healthy Buhari is to resume work, said he was happy he was back at his desk and that the National Assembly would co-operate well with the executive, espe­cially its moves to ensure pas­sage of the 2017 Budget this month.
His words: “After being away for a while, it is good for us to meet and generally review things that were done in his absence. So, it is normal consultation.
“I came here to discuss the issues regarding the activities in the National Assembly in his absence. The president met with us and I think we were there for over 40 minutes. I was not talking to myself so you know he was responding and we were engaging and he engaged us very well.
“We discussed issues of national interests, so we are happy to see him back and he is back at the office and he is doing his work.
“The budget is ongoing; things that we passed in his absence, the issue of the CJN; the Eurobond; just general is­sues that are pending; the issue of the ambassadorial nomi­nees that is due; the stability in the Niger Delta and a whole range of issues were covered in the short period of time.”
On the face-off between the Senate and Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd) over his refusal to wear the Customs uniform, Saraki declined to speak on the implications, saying that the Presidential Villa was not the appropriate place to dis­cuss that with journalists.
In his remarks, Dogara also insisted that the visit was not to assess Buhari’s health but to explore areas of co-operation between the executive and the legislature for the benefit of the country.
“I have always said this even before Mr President, that in other climes it is always the province of the legislature to fight the executive, we fight on issues bothering on national interests but we expect to co­operate more than we fight in the interest of our people to ensure that there is progress, one government no division.
“So, it is in the realisation of this that we will always extend the needed support to ensure that he succeeds so that our government will be rated as a successful one,” he said.