By Miracle Ogunde
Following accusations by Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central (PDP) that the executive is implementing an additional budget
of N3tn other than the one approved on January 1, 2024, the Presidency has denied the allegation describing it as untrue and unfounded.
This came as the Senate said it would meet over the matter on Tuesday, using its internal mechanisms and control process
The Northern Senators’ Forum, led by Ningi, had contended in a BBC Hausa Service interview that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, was executing a budget significantly higher than what was passed by the NASS.
The lawmaker stated that a N25tn budget was debated and passed, not the N28.7tn that is currently being implemented.
“Apart from what the National Assembly did on the floor, there was another budget that was done underground which we didn’t know.
“The new things we have discovered in the budget were not known to us. We haven’t seen them in the budget that was debated and considered on the floor of the National Assembly.
“For example, it was said that there was a budget of N28tn but what was passed was N25 trillion. So there is N3tn on top. Where are they, where is it going? So, we need to know this. There are a lot of things,” said Ningi.
Ningi, also revealed plans to meet President Bola Tinubu later this week saying, “We are coming up with a report and we will show the president himself and ask him if he is aware or not.”
He revealed that the forum had commissioned consultants to evaluate the 2024 budget to unearth how N3tn was surreptitiously included in the amount passed by lawmakers.
Debunking the allegation in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency described Ningi’s claims as “false” asserting that Tinubu had initially presented a N27.5tn budget to the National Assembly on November 29, 2023.
It said the budget included N9.92tn for recurrent expenditure, N8.25tn for debt service, and N8.7tn for capital expenditure, contrasting Ningi’s claims.
The Presidency emphasised that it was implausible for the Senate to have debated and passed a N25tn budget that was never presented.
“Contrary to the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed a N25tn budget that was not presented to the National Assembly.
We don’t expect a ranking Senator not to pay due attention to details before making wild claims.
“It is also important to let Nigerians know that the budget that President Tinubu signed into law on January 1, 2024, as passed by the National Assembly was N28.7tn,” Onanuga insisted.
It argued that the National Assembly only exercised its appropriation powers, and increased the executive’s proposed budget by N1.2tn to N28.7tn, which President Tinubu subsequently signed into law on New Year’s Day.
Onanuga stated, “We want to state categorically that the only 2024 budget that is being implemented is the N28.7tn budget passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President.
“Included in the budget are statutory transfers to the Judiciary, National Assembly, Tetfund and others. He did not present a budget of N25tn.”
Addressing Senator Ningi’s assertion that the 2024 budget was anti-North, the Presidency dismissed it as “far-fetched” and “unbecoming” of a leader of his stature.”
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