Senator Abdul Ningi says he stands on his allegation that the Presidency padded N3.7 trillion in the 2024 budget presented to the National Assembly (NASS).
ASHENEWS reported Ningi HERE alleging that N3.7 trillion was padded, and the Presidency denied his claim.
“To begin with, President Tinubu on November 29, 2023, presented a budget of N27.5 Trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly made up of N9.92 Trillion recurrent expenditure, Debt Service of N8.25 Trillion, and Capital Expenditure of N8.7 Trillion.
“Contrary to the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed an N25 Trillion budget that was not presented to the National Assembly,” a statement by Bayo Onanuga reads.
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“In the spirit of democracy which allows give and take, President Tinubu didn’t withhold his consent to the Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly. We want to stress that if the budget figure was increased and made to be different from what the Executive proposed, it was the National Assembly that jacked it up in the exercise of its power of appropriation.”
Similarly, some of the Northern Senators distanced themselves from Ningi’s allegation and expressed their loyalty to President Bola Tinubu.
However, addressing newsmen in the Senate on Monday, Ningi said he was not afraid of suspension by the Senate.
“I am not afraid of suspension by the Senate. I stand by what I said: N3.7 Trillion is not traced to any project in the 2024 Budget.
ALSO READ Tinubu padded ₦3trn in 2024 budget, Northern Senators allege
“I spoke for myself and not on behalf of the Northern Senator Forum. I never said the federal government is operating with two budgets.
“I only said N25 trillion was traced to projects and N3.7 trillion was not traced to any project.”
