‘Change first, then Nigerians will follow,’ BudgIT urges President

monjola sotubo

September 8, 2016 5:23 PM

The group made the calls following Buhari’s launch of the “Change Begins With Me” campaign today.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Civic organization,

The group made the calls following Buhari’s launch of the “Change Begins With Me” campaign today, September 8, 2016.

BudgIT made the call via a post titled “What is change and where should change start from?”

The post reads:

“Let change start with National Assembly telling us how N115bn is spent. Let change start with a cogent explanation why Nigerian government needs 11 aircraft in a recession.”

“Let change start with the government responding to our FOI (Freedom of Information) responses on how much money has been given to states as bailout. Let change start with the government explaining why it released N400bn for capital expenditure, with no project details. How long do we keep running with opacity?

“Let change start with the government telling the people how much funds have been recovered and who returned what.

“Let change start with the reversal of illegal recruitment into government agencies that has got no action from the government. Let us stop making change a meaningless word. Releasing N400bn for capital projects without details is not the way to go.

“Change starts with accountability of public funds and radical transparency. What is the government changing before asking you for change? Are the convoys less. Presidential fleet less?

“The government wants everything, including change from citizens. What is it giving back? What is it sacrificing? Nigerians need to change, but it starts with its leadership showing the right example.”

ALSO READ: Change begins with you - Buhari tells Nigerians

Buhari urged Nigerians to change their behaviour first before expecting the change promised by his administration.

monjola sotubo