Former federal lawmaker representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has revealed the nitty gritty of how National Assembly members add overinflated items and projects into nation’s budget.
The nation’s socio-political discourse in the last few days has been awash with the National Assembly’s allegation saga of budget padding.
Bauchi North senator, Abdul Ningi, alleged that about N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act was untraceable as they are not tied to any project.
The claim has since plunged the National Assembly, especially the Senate, into a crisis as more revelations began to emerge on how lawmakers received millions and billions of naira in the name of constituency projects.
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Although the Senate on Tuesday slammed Ningi with a three-month suspension over the allegation, the lawmaker has insisted that there are documents to back his claim.
Sani, in a post via X Thursday, enlightened the public and shed more light on what budget padding means, and how members of the National Assembly go about the act.
According to him, “Paddling budget means tampering with the budget presented by the President or the MDAs by either adding figures to the costs of projects or inserting projects that were not in the original budget.
“For example, a Minister can say he wants to buy 5 Buckets for his Ministry at 5k each; magically, he will see 8 Buckets approved for him or 5 Buckets approved at the rate of 10k each or he will see Shovels and diggers added to his request for Buckets.”
