President Muhammadu Buhari described as unpatriotic the action of the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara-led National Assembly in terms of the handling of the budget.
The president spoke during a special interview broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), on Monday, May 27.
On the 2019 budget, the president he spoke directly with Saraki and Dogara to express his displeasure over the delay in passing the budget.
The president said: “I think a culture was developed in the National Assembly that they should dictate the terms, which was wrong. It is the executive that dictates the terms and takes it before the legislature.
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“It (the Legislature) will examine it and agree or disagree with it.
“But when they go around posing that they are the government and not the executive, then that’s the problem.
“I felt and I spoke personally to the Senate President, Saraki, and the leader of the House, Dogara. They could not deny it.
“I asked them how they felt to hold the country at ransom for seven months without passing a budget.
“Unfortunately, they were not hurting me; they were hurting the country. So, really, in terms of patriotism, I think I rated them very low indeed.
“But to hold a budget for seven months cannot be justified if you really bother about the country.”