Buhari Fires 22 Federal Civil Servants Over Budget Padding

No fewer than 22 Federal officials were sacked on their involvement in the 2016 budget padding controversy, it was learnt.

The 22 civil servants were part of the 184 officials disciplined for their different roles in the padding.

Prof. John Paden stated this in his book: ‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria’ which was launched on Monday.

The book is an authorised biography of the president.

Prof Paden said the President viewed the padding as an attempt to scuttle his administration’s innovations, hence his decision to wield the big stick against the culprits.

The author wrote, “Buhari himself was frustrated by earlier padding of the budget by bureaucrats in some of the ministries.

“This was interpreted by the Buhari team as an attempt to scuttle the innovations proposed by the President by inflating their costs.

“When Buhari found out, he was reported to be angry and ordered a purge of the ministries involved from the Director-General down.

“Twenty-two top officials were dismissed, including the budget director. In all, 184 civil servants were disciplined.”