The Presidency has vehemently denied allegations of padding the 2024 budget by an additional N3 trillion, following accusations made by Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central (PDP). The senator said that the executive branch, led by President Bola Tinubu, was implementing a budget significantly higher than the one approved on January 1, 2024.
Senator Ningi, speaking on behalf of the Northern Senators’ Forum, claimed in a BBC Hausa Service interview that a budget of N25 trillion was debated and passed, 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, refuted Ningi’s claims, labelling them as “false.”.
Onanuga emphasized that President Tinubu had initially presented a budget of N27.5 trillion to the National Assembly on November 29, 2023, which was subsequently increased to N28.7 trillion by the National Assembly.
The statement dismissed the possibility of the Senate passing a N25 trillion budget that was never presented, asserting that the only budget being implemented is the N28.7 trillion budget passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Tinubu.
Furthermore, the Presidency addressed Senator Ningi’s assertion that the 2024 budget was biassed against the North, calling it “far-fetched” and “unbecoming.”. It highlighted the equitable distribution of funds and projects across all regions of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to address the matter internally on Tuesday, utilising its legislative mechanisms. Efforts to reach Senator Ningi for his response were unsuccessful.
President Tinubu had presented the N27.5 trillion budget, termed the “Renewed Hope Budget,” to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. The National Assembly subsequently passed a harmonised 2024 budget Appropriation Bill totaling N28.77 trillion for a third reading on Saturday, December 30, 2023.
