BUDGET PADDING: Tinubu backs Nigeria’s Senate
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday told the leadership of the 10th Senate that the integrity of the National Assembly remains intact in the thick of allegations of budget padding over the last few weeks.
He said his administration will always encourage cooperation between the executive and judiciary for the advancement of the nation.
Tinubu said this when he hosted the leadership of the Senate to a dinner on Thursday to break the Ramadan fast at the State House, Abuja.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement released in the early hours of Friday titled ‘President Tinubu: We will not allow anyone to undermine our security; killers of soldiers in Delta State will face certain justice.’
Padding allegation
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central, PDP) had alleged that a huge part of the 2024 budget was not allocated to any project, and that he has evidence to support his claim that the Senate may have padded the budget.
Ningi, who chaired the Northern Senators’ Forum and Senate Committee on Population, had contended in a BBC Hausa Service interview that N3.7tn could not be accounted for in the 2024 budget.
READ ALSO: BudgIT says Senator Ningi was right on unallocated N3.7 trn in Nigeria’s 2024 budget
In response, at plenary on March 12, the Senate suspended Senator Ningi for three months over this claim.
Budget arithmetic
Reacting to the allegations for the first time in public, Tinubu said, “I know the arithmetic of the budget and the numbers that I brought to the National Assembly, and I know what numbers came back.
“I appreciate all of you for the expeditious handling of the budget. Thank you very much.
“Those who are talking about malicious embellishment in the budget; they did not understand the arithmetic and did not refer to the baseline of what I brought. But your integrity is intact.”
READ ALSO: Senator Ningi gets Gudaji Kazaure treatment, insists N3.7trn not traceable to projects
Tinubu thanked the lawmakers, adding that Nigerians are at the “turning corner” of the economic challenges.
“The natural challenge we are facing will be over. On the current economic difficulty, we are about turning the corner.
“Our revenue has improved. All we have to do is to control expenditures and manage ourselves better.
“Light is at the end of the tunnel, and Nigerians will soon smile again,” the President affirmed.
