Senator Yemi Adaramodu, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, revealed this to reporters on Tuesday following the plenary session.
Remember that the Senate refuted Senator Abdul Ningi’s allegation that N3.7 trillion had been added to the 2024 budget during an interview with BBC Hausa last Saturday. Ningi is the legislator representing Bauchi Central.
Adaramodu continued, stating that there was no such thing as budget padding and emphasizing that Ningi’s assertion was proof of the proponents of budget padding’s procedural innocence and mathematical error.
A Senate spokeswoman declared that the Senate would only act in the best interests of the country and that the Red Chamber should be respected as a cornerstone of democracy.
It has to do with honesty. The budgetary controversy has been resolved because the main players in the budget padding were asked to provide evidence, but they were unable to do so. Nevertheless, the accusations must be addressed.
It is concerning that some people claim that just N25 trillion was approved out of the N28.77 trillion that was approved when, in fact, the Appropriations Act is a public document that was completed under public scrutiny.
“Mr. Ningi claimed that mandatory transfers for first-line agencies that are not housed in ministries were padded and that the allocation was untraceable.”
Among the organizations he mentioned were the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Public Complaints Commission, North East Development (NEDC), National Judicial Council, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).