• Senate dismisses PDP’s call for Akpabio’s resignation
• CNG demands breakdown of budget allocated to agencies, cautions Bamidele on North’s plot to unseat Akpabio
The Federal Government yesterday reiterated its stance on the controversial N3 trillion allegedly padded to the 2024 budget, insisting that there was no disparity in this year’s budget.
Addressing journalists in Abuja where he offered clarifications on the implementation of the 2024 Appropriation Act, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, insisted that the preparation and passage of the budget followed due process and was never in any way padded for any pecuniary interest.
He said: “The presidency issued a statement which we are fully in agreement with, about the size of the budget and where the mistake comes from. Mr. President presented a budget of N27.503 trillion and the National Assembly in its wisdom increasing the budget to N28.77 trillion, an increase of about N1.2 trillion.”
A lawmaker, Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District of Bauchi State, had at the weekend said the 2024 budget was padded by N3 trillion, adding that there were two versions of the budget.
Refuting Ningi’s claim, the Minister said: “The Constitution necessitates that the president submits budget proposals to the National Assembly. The National Assembly has the last word in terms of appropriation. There can be no appropriation without addition, subtraction or agreement to the one presented. The National Assembly deemed it fit to increase the budget from N25.5 trillion presented by the President to 28.7 trillion which is what the president is working with,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “When we presented the budget, we presented at an exchange rate of N750 to a dollar but the National Assembly in its wisdom adjusted the exchange rate to N800 to a dollar, that created more revenue, and equally, the National Assembly appropriated that government-owned enterprises that contribute revenue should also contribute more and that was the source of that additional funding for the budget; then the additional money was used to increase the budget of the judiciary, legislator and executive and this is consistent with democracy.
“The president, in signing the 2024 appropriation, acknowledged that in a democracy, institutions have their power. The National Assembly has the last word when it comes to appropriation. We choose democracy because democracy has its own opportunity and we know that power is split amongst the institutions, and we think that is the best system that we have.
“We read media reports about projects which are beyond what had been submitted by the Executive in the proposal and that is always the case in a democracy that is evolving with a lot of demands. All elected persons, particularly people in legislation are elected by constituencies and those constituencies make several demands on them, this is not an unusual phenomenon, they are under pressure to represent us and ensure that part of public spending in a year gets to the constituencies they represent.
“The evolution of the constituency and its projects by National Assembly members did not begin now or in 1999,” he stated.
MEANWHILE, the Senate, on Thursday, said that its president, Godswill Akpabio, will not resign as suggested by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Senate’s spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, berated the PDP for calling for Akpabio’s resignation over allegation of N3.7 trillion budget padding by the suspended Senator Ningi.
Adaramodu, as Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said “the PDP has elevated chicanery to statecraft and fatally failed in their sordid attempt to hoodwink the unsuspecting public on the ineffectual but spurious allegations of budget padding.
“The party’s ludicrous call for the resignation of Senator Akpabio as the Senate President is unthinkable and shows the party as a massaging balm for falsehood and immoral legislative outbursts. Akpabio will not resign and has no intention to resign at any time because he has not committed any wrongdoing to warrant a resignation.”
According to Adaramodu, “it is shocking that the PDP leadership could not comprehend what transpired at Tuesday’s plenary where the allegations were debated and Senator Ningi, who was given the ample opportunity to defend himself and prove the budget padding allegations, was suspended after he failed to substantiate his claims in the full glare of the public.
“Contrary to the unspeakable grandstanding, Senator Ningi was never intimidated nor harassed, neither was he gagged nor denied the privilege to exercise his right of reply as the senator was given ample opportunity to defend himself. But the whole world saw how he floundered, since he had no verifiable facts to substantiate his allegations and his futile efforts to defend lies.”
The Senate’s explanations notwithstanding, a coalition of youth groups from Bauchi Central Senatorial District have issued a two-week ultimatum to the Senate and the Senate President, Akpabio, to investigate the issues raised by Ningi or face legal action.
The coalition, which questioned the basis on which their representative was suspended for three months, said the lawmakers have placed their rule above the national law, saying that Ningi has not violated any section of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Chairman of the coalition of youth groups from Bauchi Central, Nazeef Abdullahi Rio, said: “As constituents, we condemn in its entirety the decision of the Senate under the leadership of Senator Akpabio to suspend the Senator representing us, Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, for his sincere concern about irregularities in the 2024 budget, which if left unchecked, will have negative consequences on our dear constituency, our state and the country in general.
“To our total dismay, instead of the Senate to commend Senator Ningi for his patriotic discovery and investigate the irregularities with a view to addressing them in the best interest of the country, it ended up unjustifiably suspending him, thereby denying his rights as a Senator and Nigerian and our rights of being represented at the Senate. This is the highest level of injustice meted on any senator and any senatorial district in the history of our dear country,” he said.
The coalition declared its support for Ningi and called for immediate reversal of the suspension within two weeks.
“If the Senate fails to meet our demands within two weeks, as constituents of Bauchi Central Senatorial district, we will be left with no option but to take legal action so that our constitutional rights would be upheld,” he added.
Recall that on Wednesday, the governor of the state, Bala Mohammed, had also declared support for the senator, saying he was sad that one of the “best of us” in Bauchi was suspended for three months for telling the truth. He described Ningi as the beacon of truth and a fearless lawmaker from the state. He had called for proper investigation to unravel the allegations made by the senator.
Similarly, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), on Thursday, asked Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, from Ekiti Central Senatorial district, to approach political discourse with honesty, integrity and a sense of historical context.
It would be recalled that on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Bamidele, who is also the Majority Leader of the upper chamber, alleged that Senator Ningi attempted to unseat Senate President Akpabio by allegedly inciting the Northern Senators’ Forum, which he led then against Akpabio, a Southern senator.
CNG, in a statement, by its National Coordinator, Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, described Bamidele’s statement as “irresponsible and callous attempt to distort history and point fingers at the North.”
The group also demanded detailed breakdown and transparency in budget allocations for government-owned enterprises, agencies like the National Judicial Council, Independent National Electoral Commission, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and the National Assembly.
Charanchi said: “This desperate attempt to rewrite history and as usual, put the blame on the North for all the country’s woes is unacceptable as well as repugnant to the sensibilities of northerners. In his misguided tirade, Senator Bamidele ignorantly forgot or deliberately ignored key historical facts that paint a different but true picture.
“He failed to acknowledge that it was President Shehu Shagari, a Northerner, who made Joseph Wayas president of the Senate of the Second Republic, against a fellow Northern aspirant in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
“Furthermore, Bamidele mischievously failed to mention that it was President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Southerner, who orchestrated the removal of several Southern individuals from the Senate presidency.
“He must also remember that Southern politicians like President Obasanjo too have played their part in manipulating the political landscape when he ruthlessly removed three PDP national chairman of Northern extraction from their positions.
“Bamidele seems to have a selective memory when it comes to political alliances and the role that Northern politicians have played in shaping the country’s leadership by failing to acknowledge the support that Northern politicians provided to figures like President Bola Tinubu, allowing him to secure the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ensuring his emergence as president with their overwhelming votes of 60 per cent.
“His rude attempts to deflect attention from the budget padding revelations made by Senator Ningi only further highlight his desperation to change the narrative.
“We note the revelation that some Senators got N500 million each from the 2024 budget while some collected N200 million all in the bid to cover-up the fraud. It was also discovered that some senatorial districts have up to N120 billion while other senatorial districts have just N1.2 billion.
“It was also revealed that in the budget presented to the Senate, some constituencies were allocated N120 billion, some N50 billion; some N30 billion. Some have less than N1 billion. Although the allegation has been dismissed as being untrue both by the presidency and the legislative arm of the government, the development has unearthed non-transparent and unjustified financial allocations to the National Assembly, thus further casting doubts over its integrity.
“The absence of reasonable explanations by the Senate leadership as to where these monies were inserted in the budget emphasises the validity of Senator Ningi’s assertions regarding the lack of detailed allocation for the stated amount in the 2024 budget.”
