The Senate has suspended Senator Abdul Ningi for three months over his claim that the 2024 Budget was padded to the tune of N3.7 trillion.
While the parties called for a probe into the allegation, some northern senators disowned the claims made by Ningi, saying the Bauchi State senator did not speak for themThe Bauchi senator, however, maintained his position on Monday that o N3.7tn could not be accounted for in the 2024 budget.This came as Senator Jimoh Ibrahim called for the arrest of Ningi, on the grounds that the lawmaker was attempting to breach the peace at the National Assembly, among other concerns.At a press briefing on Monday, Ningi insisted that N3.7tn was inserted into the 2024 budget.
He, however, stated that he was misquoted, stressing that he never mentioned that President Bola Tinubu was running two budgets.He further stated that he spoke in the interview as a lawmaker and not on behalf of the Northern Senators’ Forum.
Ningi had in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (Hausa Service) on Saturday, alleged that the budget passed by the National Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year was N25tn, while the one being implemented by the Presidency was N28.7tn.In the interview, he was quoted to have said, “For the first time in Nigerian history, today we are operating two different budgets. One budget was approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu and the one was implemented by the Presidency.“The one approved by us is N25tn while the one being operated by the Federal Government is N28.7tn
“Apparently, we discovered N3tn was inserted into the budgets for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”The Bauchi senator was further quoted to have said, “We resolved as the peoples’ representatives to see President Tinubu on this issue, with facts and figures, to ask him if he is aware of this embarrassment or not, then from there we will take action.“Let Nigerians be patient with us. This is a national issue; it affects all Nigerians irrespective of party, tribe or religion.”The Senate through its spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South) had in a chat with our correspondent refuted the claim on Saturday night, stating that there was no padding whatsoever in the budget.
But during a press conference on Monday, Ningi told journalists that he never said that the President was running two budgets, rather there was N3.7tn in the 2024 budget yet to be accounted for.
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