Peter Gregory Obi, the former governor of Anambra State, has charged the Senate to provide clarity on the claim made by Senator Abdul Ningi that an extra N3.7 trillion was added to the 2024 budget.
Obi in a statement on Wednesday stated that the suspension of Ningi doesn’t resolve the significant issues related to the allegation.
Obi added that the alleged padding of N3 trillion in the 2024 budget demands a thorough explanation to enlighten Nigerians on the country’s fiscal management.
On Tuesday, Ningi, representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), faced a three-month suspension following an intense session in the red chamber.
The federal lawmaker had earlier alleged in an interview that there are two versions of the 2024 budget operated by the Federal Government, claiming that the N28.7 trillion budget approved and enacted by President Bola Tinubu is biased against the North.
Reacting to the development, Obi declared that every penny of Nigeria’s public funds must be dedicated to the public welfare, noting that the purported N3.7 trillion exceeds the combined national budget for health and education, which are the most vital elements of the human development index.
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- “The fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget raised by a Senator still rages as the Senate’s reaction of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed vital issues emanating from the allegation.
- “The Senator is insisting on his allegation. Fresh allegations have also cropped up over indiscriminate and unbalanced allocation of constituency projects by the Senate leadership.
- “A civic society group, Budgit, through their official, have also added their voice to agree with the Senator. They allege that there was no detailed project allocations for about N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
- “The suspension of the senator involved by the senate has not addressed the issue.
- “They still owe the Nigerian public a clear clarification over the various claims and counterclaims, including that of the executive arm, to be able to know exactly what is happening, and also disclose to the public, the exact amounts allocated for constituency projects for appropriate monitoring of implementation by the public,” he noted.
Backstory
Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate suspended the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, for three months for alleging that the 2024 budget was padded with N3 trillion.
- The upper chamber also resolved that if Mr Ningi could send an apology letter, the leadership of the senate would, thereafter, decide whether to lift the suspension or not.
- In an interview with BBC Hausa, Ningi claimed that the Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget and that the N28.7 trillion Budget passed and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu was skewed against the North.
- Many Senators and the Presidency had pounced on Ningi, describing his claims as “far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status”.
- Ningi would later deny saying that the country is operating two budgets but insisted that only N25 trillion of the budget was tied to projects while N3.7 trillion had no project tied to it.
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