A major confrontation between the leadership of the Senate and some senators behind the alleged N3trillion ‘padding’ of the 2024 budget is likely to take place on the floor in Abuja on Tuesday, the Nigerian Tribune can report.
A scheduled news conference by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Adeola Olamilekan, on Sunday, to address the issue, was later cancelled.
Findings indicated that Olamilekan, who kept journalists waiting for close to three hours from 1pm, was prevailed upon to shelve the briefing in place of “a proper, full engagement” with the senators who made the allegation on the floor on Tuesday.
A senior legislative official, speaking with the newspaper soon after that news conference was called off, said, “The position now is that reading the text of the press conference will not be enough response by the Senate.
“The matter will be tabled and taken up in open plenary on Tuesday in the presence of those (senators) who made the allegation.
“It will be formally taken, debated and acted upon on the floor in the full view of everyone.”
Olamilekan did not make further official comments on the issue as he drove out of the National Assembly after putting off the news conference.
Recall that Sen. Abdul Ningi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator representing Bauchi-Central Senatorial District, in a British Broadcasting Service (BBC) interview widely circulated on Saturday, had claimed that the N28.7tn 2024 budget currently being implemented was not the same as the budget passed by the National Assembly.
He alleged that there were two budgets, saying that while the National Assembly passed N28.7tn, what was signed and being implemented was N25tn.
Ningi, along with some members of the Northern Senators’ Forum (NSF) further held the view that over N3tn projects were inserted into the budget under the watch of the leadership of the legislature.
Making his allegation, Ningi had stated, “For example, we had a budget of N28tn, but after our thorough checks, we found out that it was a budget of N25tn.
“How and where did we get the additional N3tn from, what are we spending it for?”
Nigerian Tribune gathered amid the denial by the spokesman of the Senate, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, of the alleged inflation of the budget, that three members of the NSF, dissociated themselves from Ningi’s position.
Incidentally, Ningi is the Chairman of the forum.
The three members are Sen. Karimi Sunday (Kogi State); Kaka Shehu (Borno State); and Titus Tartenger-Zam (Benue State).
When the Nigerian Tribune contacted Sen. Sunday in Abuja on Sunday, he confirmed that he and two other members of the forum did not agree with Ningi.
When asked whether they were opposing what Ningi said, he replied, “yes.”
On the alleged N3tn budget padding, Sen. Sunday again replied, “There is nothing like that.“
However, he said he would not comment on the direction of the events that would take place on Tuesday because he didn’t have that exact information.
