The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria’s last general elections has condemned the alleged report that the national budget was padded by N3 trillion.
The allegation, which stirred uproar across Nigeria last week, was made by the Senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial district, Abdul Ningi. He told the BBC that there was another budget different from what was passed on the floor of the National Assembly.
The senator said, “For example, it was said that there was a budget of N28 trillion but what was passed was N25 trillion. So there is N3 trillion on top,” he said.
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Responding to this controversy, Obi said he finds it deeply disconcerting and a matter of grave concern and even shameful to read about the alleged N3 trillion discrepancy between the budget approved by the Nigerian Senate and the one being implemented by the presidency.
Ningi revealed that a team of experts has been scrutinizing the budget over the past three months, aiming to highlight discrepancies and undisclosed allocations, and the findings will be presented to President Bola Tinubu for clarification on whether he was aware of these hidden budget items.
He emphasized the need to address unacceptable expenditures and undisclosed allocations, expressing concern over the lack of transparency in the budgetary process.
He said, “This is true (about the review of the government) for the past three months, we have engaged consultants to review the budget for us.
“We have some experts that are working on it line by line. We have seen the huge damage that was done not only to the north but the entire country in that budget. We are supposed to sit with the Senate President to inform him about what we have observed.
“We want to show him what we have seen in the budget that is not acceptable, we will not accept them and we don’t want the country to continue spending money on those things. Apart from what the National Assembly did on the floor, there was another budget that was done underground which we didn’t know.
“The new things we have discovered in the budget were not known to us. We haven’t seen them in the budget that was debated and considered on the floor of the National Assembly.”
“Where are they, where is it going? So, we need to know this. There are a lot of things. We are coming up with a report and we will show the president himself and ask him if he is aware or not.”
The latest scandal is coming at a time when Nigeria is grappling with rocketing inflation among other economic headwinds that have spiked hardship across the country, making the cost of living unaffordable for the majority of the populace.
Against this backdrop, Obi said the alleged discrepancy is “worrying”, noting that it represents “over 10% of our national budget” (estimated at N29 trillion) and is more than “the combined education (N1.54 trillion) and health (N1.38 trillion) official budgets.”
“This lack of transparency in managing public funds is a breach of trust between the Nigerian people and their elected leaders,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor said the situation is insensitive to the plight of the Nigerian people currently grappling with insecurity, hunger, poverty, inflation, and unemployment plaguing the nation. He added that the general public deserves accountability “for all our scarce resources placed in public trust.”
He said: “I find it deeply disconcerting and a matter of grave concern and even shameful to read about the alleged N3 trillion discrepancy between the budget approved by the Nigerian Senate and the one being implemented by the presidency.
“One Senator claims there is a separate budget, allegedly containing the N3 trillion, that differs from what was passed by the National Assembly. This alleged discrepancy is especially worrying because it represents over 10% of our national budget (estimated at N29 trillion) and is more than the combined education (N1.54 trillion) and health (N1.38 trillion) official budgets. This lack of transparency in managing public funds is a breach of trust between the Nigerian people and their elected leaders.
“With insecurity, hunger, poverty, inflation, and unemployment plaguing the nation, these actions are insensitive to the people’s plight. Every naira of our budget, especially in these challenging times, should be judiciously used to build a better Nigeria.
“We also deserve full accountability of all our scarce resources placed in public trust. Therefore, we, the Nigerian people, demand a public explanation from both the National Assembly and the Presidency regarding the purpose and process of adding this alleged N3 trillion allocation to the officially approved national budget for 2024. Transparency and accountability remain the cornerstones of good democratic governance at all levels. This is our unwavering commitment to building a New Nigeria which we insist remains POssible.”