JUST IN: Drama in Nigerian senate as lawmaker claims ‘senior’ senators got N500m each from 2024 budget (Video)
The Senate has been thrown into a rowdy session after a lawmaker claimed some senior senators received N500 each amid a 2024 budget padding allegation.
The upper chamber on Tuesday was thrown into rowdy seession as the Point of Order raised by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, was hijacked by an escalation by Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe representing Cross River North.
Adeola, an APC Ogun West senator raised a point of order against the allegation by former Senate Deputy leader and Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central.
Ningi had raised the alarm of N3 trillion Budget Padding in the N28.7trillion 2024 Appropriation Act and that the budget passed by the National Assembly for 2024 fiscal year is N25trillion while the one being implemented by the Presidency is N28.7trillion.
The Senators were divided on the matter, as they took turns to speak on the floor of the Senate, but more revelations confounded the matter, when Jarigbe, a PDP senator said some senators got N500 million each but he did not get it.
“All of us are culpable. Some so called Senior Senators here got 500M Naira each from the 2024 Budget, I am a ranking Senator I didn’t get anything. No Senator has a right to accuse Senator Ningi.” – Senator Jarigbe.
Cc: @officialEFCC pic.twitter.com/OY7YdND3T6
— Prince Adeshina (@RealAdeshina) March 12, 2024
“All of us are culpable. Some so-called Senior Senators here got 500M Naira each from the 2024 Budget, I am a ranking Senator and I didn’t get anything. No Senator has a right to accuse Senator Ningi.
“Let us wash our dirty linen in public. Did you see me go to the media?” he said.
The national assembly had passed a budget of N28.7 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year.
President Bola Tinubu had proposed N27.5 trillion, but the lawmakers jerked it up by N1.2 trillion.
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (Hausa Service) on Saturday, Senator Ningi said that the budget being implemented by the Presidency is N28.7tn, whereas the one approved by the National Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year is N25tn.
In the interview, Senator Ningi was cited as saying, “For the first time in Nigerian history, today we are operating two different budgets. One budget was approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu and the one was implemented by the presidency.”
He stated, “The one approved by us is ₦25trn while the one operating by the Government is ₦28tn.
“Apparently, we discovered ₦3trn was inserted into the budgets for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”
He added, “We resolved as people Representatives to see President Tinubu on this issue, with facts and figures, to ask him if he is aware of this embarrassment or not, then from there we will take action.
“Let Nigerians be patient with us. This is a national issue; it affects all Nigerians in respective of party, tribe or religion.”
Meanwhile: The Senate through its spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South) had in a chat with our correspondent refuted the claim on Saturday night stating that there was no padding whatsoever in the budget.
Adaramodu said, “There is no budget padding as far as the Senate and the National Assembly are concerned.
“The national budget is a public document, which expressly states the expected revenue and the expenditure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio is not aware of any varied execution of the 2024 appropriation mandate, as approved.”
Senator Adaramodu added, “The budget presentation and approval processes were made in the public glare, while the Presidential assent was also in a public ceremony.
