By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Presidency has refuted accusations of padding the 2024 budget by an additional N3 trillion, following claims made by Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central (PDP).
Senator Ningi, speaking on behalf of the Northern Senators’ Forum, alleged in a BBC Hausa Service interview that the executive was implementing a budget significantly higher than the approved amount.
According to Senator Ningi, the budget passed by the National Assembly stood at N25 trillion, not the N28.7 trillion currently being implemented.
However, the Presidency, in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, clarified that President Bola Tinubu had initially presented a N27.5 trillion budget to the National Assembly on November 29, 2023.
The Presidency emphasized that the budget passed by President Tinubu on January 1, 2024, stood at N28.7 trillion, after the National Assembly exercised its appropriation powers to increase the proposed budget by N1.2 trillion.
It dismissed Senator Ningi’s claims as unfounded and stressed the importance of paying attention to details before making accusations.
Furthermore, the Presidency addressed Senator Ningi’s assertion that the 2024 budget was biased against the North, dismissing it as baseless and unbecoming of his stature as a leader.
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