By Cross Udo and Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate Appropriation Committee, led by the Chairman, Senator Adeola, has said the Senate would discuss the allegations of budget padding levelled against the National Assembly by the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, Abdul Ningi, on Tuesday (tomorrow)
Investigations by ThisNigeria, however, revealed that the deliberations would be held behind closed sessions.
Ningi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, alleged in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Saturday that N3trn had been padded into the 2024 budget approved by the National Assembly on December 30 last year.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Panel met at the National Assembly complex on Sunday to discuss the matter.
They wanted to brief journalists after the meeting but cancelled it.
The Panel’s Chairman, Solomon Adeola, said the press conference was called off to enable the Senate in plenary to discuss the matter on Tuesday (tomorrow) and take a position on it.
He said the committee might brief the journalists after the Senate’s deliration.
*Northern Senators tackle Ningi
Tension has, however, started brewing on the matter as some northern senators have castigated Ningi over his interview with the BBC.
They claimed that the NSF Chairman had indicted himself as a member of the Appropriation Panel.
A ranking Senator from the northern part of the country, also a member of the Appropriation Committee, said, “Let me tell you, what Ningi did was self-indictment.”
The Senator, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said, “There’s this saying in Hausa that if the person speaking is a fool, the person listening will not be a fool. Yes, this budget, when they say it’s skewed, it is skewed to where?
“Who prepared the budget? All the committees did the budget. Ours is to compile the budget. Our mandate did not say to make sure that the North got an equal amount with the South. No. So what are they talking about? It’s self-indictment. Who passed the budget?
“Who is the budget minister? Is he not from the North? Atiku Bagudu is the Minister of Budget, and he is from the North. It is not the Minister of Finance, who is from Lagos, who prepared the budget. He only executes it. Who prepared the budget?
“Who gives each MDA a ceiling? Is it the Budget Office? Then, in the budget team, the Southerners are in the minority.
“The House Committee on Appropriation Chairman is from the North West, and the buck stops there. Solomon Adeola is the chairman of the Appropriation Committee and is from the South-West, but he still needs to prepare the budget.
“Now I’m hearing another story. The chairman of the House says that if you total the budget, the North has more than the South. So, you see, it has become an argument, and I don’t want to start talking to you without facts.
“Now, they said they have a document and employed a consultant. The consultant said that the budget is skewed and actually N25trn. Now, who are you indicting? So, it means the National Assembly padded the budget with N3trn. Who added the N3trn?
“He said in his interview that we understand that the work is in progress and that it is an interim report. A meeting of the Northern Senators Forum was called, and we met with the Senate President. Some of us didn’t want to go, but they insisted.
“We demanded evidence to justify their claims that the North had been shortchanged. We even asked them to make public the report of their investigation on the alleged skewed budget with relevant documents.
“At the meeting, the Senate President told our colleagues in the NSF that he was not aware of any budget padding and challenged Ningi to submit to the Senate leadership a copy of the report presented to him by the team of consultants which allegedly spotted the padded N3trn.”
Also yesterday, three senators—Steve Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue North West), and Kaka Sheu (Borno North)—said Ningi’s allegation of budget padding was unfounded baseless and a figment of his imagination.
The senators warned against what they described as the antics of blackmailers bent on creating a crisis in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.
Karimi, Zam, and Sheu said in different interviews that they spoke on behalf of the Northern Senators’ Forum.
They also said no room should be allowed for division and animosity between senators from the North and South by those who may not want to prioritize national unity and harmony.
They said they could not be used to blackmail the budget process, which was done in good faith.
At last week’s meeting, some northern senators accused the Senate President of inserting projects worth N3trn in the 2024 budget.
They alleged that the projects, which had no locations, were inserted into the budget, which they also claimed was lopsided against the North and some parts of the South.
The northern senators also accused Akpabio of railroading the senators to hurriedly pass the budget, adding that it favoured Akpabio and his cronies.
However, shedding light on what transpired at the meeting, Karimi, Zam, and Sheu said it was only resolved that the report of the consultant engaged by the Northern Senators Forum be subjected to further scrutiny.
They argued that the entire appropriation process was a combination of work from the executive branch, actively represented by the budget and national planning minister and other ministers, the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, and the Senate Committees on Appropriation.
Dismissing the allegation of padding as a ruse, they said while the executive brought a budget proposal of N27.5trn, the Senate passed a budget of N28.77trn.
Karimi said, “The difference was N1.27trn, coming from all three arms of government. Where is the additional so-called padding of three trillion coming from?
“It was resolved that the Northern Senators’ consultant report be looked into by essential committees of the Senate and House of Representatives before jumping to a conclusion.”
Zam urged Abdul Ningi, the leader of the Northern Senators Caucus, to “rein in those who think a crisis-ridden Senate would better profit them.”
He noted that the North had provided leadership in Nigeria and enjoyed the support of other regions seamlessly. However, now that power has shifted to the South, the North’s representatives should refrain from acting as instruments of destabilisation.
In his submission, Shehu said the North can agitate for a fair share of the national pie but within the ambits of decency, decorum, and dignity.
He said, “Senator Ningi has not given correct information. He has yet to even give the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives a copy of what he claims to have discovered in the 2024 Appropriation Act before levelling allegations of budget padding against the President, the Senate President, and the Senate.
“President Tinubu presented a budget estimate of over N27trn on 28th November to the National Assembly, which passed a budget of over N28trn, which became an Act of Parliament on 1st January 2024.
“Where did Sen Ningi get his N25trn Appropriation Act? What about the extra requests that chairmen of appropriation committees of both chambers claimed came from the executive after Mr President submitted the initial over N27trn proposals?
“So, how did Sen Ningi’s budget analyst get the N3trn budget padding allegations? Must we attempt to give a dog a bad name to hang it?
“Are APC members of the northern Senators Forum that PDP Senator Ningi claims to lead oblivious of the anti-Tinubu/Akpabio undertones? The National Assembly should not be denigrated,” he added.
A few other senators from the North who spoke on conditions of anonymity yesterday said they might demand sanctions against Ningi for misrepresenting them.
*We’re not involved – Presidency
The Presidency yesterday denied the allegation that President Bola Tinubu is implementing a budget different from what the National Assembly passed, saying that the lawmakers added the N1.2trn differential.
The Presidency also debunked the insinuation that the 2024 budget being implemented by President Tinubu is anti-North.
The denials were contained in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, titled: The facts about the 2024 budget.
Onanuga said President Tinubu is leading a government that is fair and equitable to every part and segment of Nigeria.
He added that in terms of funding, capital distribution, and priority projects, the 2024 Appropriation Act was not skewed against any section of the country.
He further explained that the North, as an integral part of the country, is well covered in all areas, from security to agriculture, healthcare to education, and other critical infrastructure such as roads, rail, dams, power, and irrigation projects to support all year-round agriculture.
The statement read, “Following the false claims made by Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget, we consider it appropriate to inform Nigerians that there is no truth whatsoever in the allegation.
“Acting under the banner of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Ningi falsely claimed in an interview he granted BBC Hausa Service that the National Assembly debated and passed N25trn as the 2024 budget and not the N28.7trn that the Federal Government is implementing.
“To begin with, President Tinubu, on November 29, 2023, presented a budget of N27.5trn to the joint session of the National Assembly made up of N9.92trn recurrent expenditure, Debt Service N8.25trn, and Capital Expenditure N8.7trn.
“This was widely reported. Contrary to Senator Ningi’s strange view, the Senate could not have debated and passed a N25trn budget that was not presented to the National Assembly.
“We don’t expect a ranking Senator not to pay due attention to details before making wild claims. It is also important to inform Nigerians that the budget President Tinubu signed into law on January 1, 2024, passed by the National Assembly, was N28.7trn.
“The National Assembly, in its wisdom, increased the amount proposed by the Executive by N1.2trn.
“In the spirit of democracy, which allows give and take, President Tinubu didn’t withhold his consent to the Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly. If the budget figure was increased and made to be different from what the executive proposed, the National Assembly jacked it up in exercising its power of appropriation.
“Regarding Senator Ningi’s uncharitable claim that the 2024 budget was anti-North, we found such a position too far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status.
“President Tinubu is leading a government that is fair and equitable to every part and segment of Nigeria. In terms of funding, distribution of capital, and priority projects, the 2024 Appropriation Act was not skewed against any section of the country.
“The North, as an integral part of the country, is well covered in all areas, from security to agriculture, healthcare to education, and other important infrastructure such as roads, rail, dams, power, and irrigation projects to support all-year-round agriculture.”
He said it is concerning that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria “can employ such primordial antics to fuel divisive rhetoric at a time well-meaning Nigerians are joining hands with President Tinubu to raise the spirit of national cohesion, unity, and inclusive politics.”
He further said, “We want to use this opportunity to commend Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, for setting the record straight. We also commend Senators Steve Sunday Karimi (Kogi), Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue), and Kaka Sheu (Borno) for their forthrightness and for coming out against Senator Ningi’s misrepresentation of facts.
“President Tinubu firmly believes in the rule of law and constitutional democracy. As an avowed democrat, he will not engage and indulge in any unconstitutional action or act in any manner that assaults the Constitution of Nigeria by operating any budget outside the one approved by the National Assembly, which he dutifully signed into law.
“We want to state categorically that the only 2024 budget being implemented is the N28.7trn budget passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President.
“The budget includes statutory transfers to the Judiciary, National Assembly, TetFund and others.”
