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The budget-padding scandal in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has claimed another victim with the dismissal of Yahaya Gusau, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation.

According to a statement by the Presidency, Mr. Gusau, who was appointed to the office on August 18, 2015 for an initial four-year term, has been replaced by Tijjani Abdullahi as the new DG of the Budget Office. Mr. Abdullahi is a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria.

Earlier today, the Presidency announced the sack of heads of 26 federal agencies and parastatals with immediate effect. Some of the agencies and parastatals affected were National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Bank of Industry (BoI), and Nigerian Export-Import Bank.

Last week, the National Assembly announced it can no longer pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law on February 25. According to the NASS, the budget proposal was fraught with too many errors and controversies.

Some of the controversies involved fraudulent allocations to the Ministry of Health and over-bloated figures to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Goje, said, “During the budget defence, a lot of issues based on the padding of the budget, arising from over-bloated overheads and in some instances cases of over-bloated personnel cost.”

President Buhari has also approved the appointment of Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser to the President on National Planning. Mr. Akabueze is the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State.