The lawmaker representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Abdul Ningi, has stated that he was misquoted on statements he made regarding the 2024 Appropriation Act.
Chronicle NG had earlier reported that the presidency debunked claims of budget padding levelled against the executive by Ningi.
Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter), said a budget of N27.5 trillion and not N25 trillion as (claimed by Ningi) was presented before a joint session of the National Assembly on November 29, 2023.
“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 N8.25 Trillion and Capital Expenditure N8.7 Trillion.
“This was widely reported. He did not present a budget of N25 Trillion.
“Contrary to the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed a N25 trillion budget that was not presented to the National Assembly.” The statement partly reads.
However, in a chat with Senate correspondents on Monday, Ningi who doubles as the Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, said he is ready to carry his cross, even if it means suspension from the Red Chamber.
The senator clarified that he never claimed that President Bola Tinubu was implementing two budgets or that he was biassed against the North.
He stated that he stands by his utterance as a Senator and not the Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, that it has been established beyond doubt that N25trn was rightly allocated in the budget, citing three parameters (money, project, and location), but cannot ascertain the project location for the other N3trn.
Recall that Senator Ningi, speaking under the aegis of the Northern Senators’ Forum in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, stated that the Bola Tinubu-led administration was implementing a different budget from the N25 trillion budget passed by the National Assembly.
