Garba Shehu, SSA to President Buhari on Media and Publicity has said the rejections suffered by several bills from the national assembly are due to Mr. President's carefulness so as not to sign stupid bills into law.
Shehu who appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, today in Abuja, was responding to claims that while the 8th Senate boasts of a total of 306 passed bills,the highest in the country's history, Buhari had the record for the highest number of rejected bills.
He maintained that President Buhari is well-known for his thorough and meticulous work citing the minimum wage amendment bill as one case in which he proved his interest in any bill brought before him by summoning ministers, stakeholders and members of the judiciary to evaluate and agree with the contents of the bill before signing it.
Shehu said while such painstaking processes can be time-taking, they help prevent the President from signing stupid bills.
His words “Let me say that the President is very methodical in dealing with matters such as this. A President could sit in that powerful office and act like he knows it all and I think in this country, we have had such Presidents but President Buhari is different because whenever bills come for signature, he will ask that a long list of stakeholders be drawn up. For example, the minimum wage bill he which signed.
“Prior to that, labour groups had been demanding that he sign immediately but he refused and identified all stakeholders, ministers and even the judiciary were made to sign off on it and when this process is on, it takes a lot of time.
“Sometimes deadlines are issued and re-issued. However, the point is that at the end of it, a thorough job is done so that the President does not sign stupid documents and that is important for this country.”
He said the seven-month delay in passing the 2018 budget should be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Shehu said, “The delay which was experienced in 2018 in which the National Assembly held unto the budget for seven months is good enough for the Guinness Book of Records and the President lamented this.”
When asked if ministers who failed to appear before the National Assembly to defend their respective budgets did not contribute to the delay, Shehu said the parliament should have summoned such ministers if it were true.
He said the legislative arm of government had the power to order the arrest of persons without immunity but the fact that they did not enforce such powers showed that they were only looking for excuses.
The President’s aide, however, failed to explain why Buhari had failed to sign the Electoral Amendment bill 2019 into law.
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