Peter Obi Calls for Clarity from Senate on Alleged Budget Padding

Peter Gregory Obi, former governor of Anambra State, has urged the Senate to provide clarification regarding Senator Abdul Ningi’s claim that an additional N3.7 trillion was added to the 2024 budget.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Obi emphasized that the suspension of Ningi does not resolve the significant issues related to the allegation. He stressed that the alleged padding of N3 trillion in the 2024 budget necessitates a thorough explanation to enlighten Nigerians on the country’s fiscal management.

Ningi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, faced a three-month suspension following a heated session in the Senate on Tuesday. He had earlier alleged in an interview that there are two versions of the 2024 budget operated by the Federal Government, claiming that the N28.7 trillion budget approved and enacted by President Bola Tinubu is biased against the North.

In response, Obi stated that every penny of Nigeria’s public funds must be dedicated to public welfare, emphasizing that the purported N3.7 trillion exceeds the combined national budget for health and education, which are crucial components of the human development index.

• “The fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 price range raised by a Senator nonetheless rages because the Senate’s response of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed very important points emanating from the allegation. 
• “The Senator is insisting on his allegation. Contemporary allegations have additionally cropped up over indiscriminate and unbalanced allocation of constituency tasks by the Senate management.
• “A civic society group, Budgit, via their official, have additionally added their voice to agree with the Senator. They allege that there was no detailed venture allocations for about N3.7 trillion within the 2024 Appropriation Act.
• “The suspension of the senator concerned by the senate has not addressed the difficulty.
• “They nonetheless owe the Nigerian public a transparent clarification over the varied claims and counterclaims, together with that of the manager arm, to have the ability to know precisely what is occurring, and likewise speak in confidence to the general public, the precise quantities allotted for constituency tasks for applicable monitoring of implementation by the general public,” he famous.

Backstory

Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate suspended the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, for 3 months for alleging that the 2024 price range was padded with N3 trillion.

• The higher chamber additionally resolved that if Mr Ningi may ship an apology letter, the management of the senate would, thereafter, determine whether or not to raise the suspension or not.
• In an interview with BBC Hausa, Ningi claimed that the Federal Authorities is working two variations of the 2024 price range and that the N28.7 trillion Funds handed and signed into legislation by President Bola Tinubu was skewed in opposition to the North.
• Many Senators and the Presidency had pounced on Ningi, describing his claims as “far-fetched and unbecoming of a frontrunner of his standing”.
• Ningi would later deny saying that the nation is working two budgets however insisted that solely N25 trillion of the price range was tied to tasks whereas N3.7 trillion had no venture tied to it.