N3.6bn budget padding allegation ‘is tautology’– FG

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, has waived off allegations of a N3.6 billion ‘budget padding’ leveled against the Presidency and some members of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, describing it as ‘tautology.’

This development follows the suspension of a serving lawmaker, Senator Abdul Ningi over the original allegation of budget padding by senators in collusion with the Executive arm of government to the tune of N3.6 billion, just as the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted on a thorough investigation into claims raised by the now suspended legislator.

Meanwhile, Bagudu who stated this during in Abuja, Friday, during an interactive session with newsmen, stated that the Nigerian Constitution allows the President to present a budget document to the National Assembly and the National Assembly ‘has the right by constitution to add or subtract from the budget.’

According to Bagudu, ‘when these constitutional rights are performed, it’s not padding.’

“The word, ‘padding’ is a tautology and it’s now seen to be negative,” he added.

“Our constitution necessitated that Mr. President submitted a budget proposal to the National Assembly. There has been a debate about the appropriation powers of the National Assembly.

“What is the power of the National Assembly as regards the budget? I started by saying that there’s no Supreme Court judgement on that yet. In fact, the National Assembly has the last word when it comes to appropriation. So, they have the right to increase the budget line.

When we submit a budget, the budget is distributed to the committees of the Senate.

“When people talk about padding, the word has been narrowed to a negative form whereas in reality there can be no appropriation without either addition or subtraction,” he said.

Bagudu further explained that the president submitted to the National Assembly a consolidated revenue fund  of N27,503,404,073,861 but the lawmakers authorised a consolidated revenue fund of N28,777,404,073,861.

“A bill for an act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N27,503,404,073,861 ­­­­­­only, of which N1,376,352,359, 690 only is for statutory transfers and  N8,490,960,606,831  only is for debt service. But the National Assembly authorized N28,777,404,073,861,″ he said.

It would be recalled that the Senate on Tuesday suspended Ningi, a senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District in Bauchi State, over the budget padding allegation levelled against the leadership of the senate.

Ningi was suspended for three months by the Senate, last Tuesday for alleging that his colleagues at the senate padded the budget.       

Ningj, while appearing on a programme by BBC Hausa Service, had alleged that the Budget 2024 was padded by the National Assembly with N3.7 trillion, an allegation the leadership of the senate and the presidency denied.

Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy at hr senate, the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for an independent investigation on the alleged N3.7 trillion budget padding by the National Assembly.

The PDP said this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja, Friday.

Ologunagba maintained that the investigation would help to unravel the circumstances leading to the suspension of Ningi, insisting that the latter was suspended without a detailed inquest into the alleged budget padding raised by him.

The PDP described the suspension as a desperate move to suppress the investigation, conceal and sweep the facts under the carpet, adding that the Senate should have referred the matter to the appropriate Standing Committee for an open investigation in line with its extant rules.

“The PDP calls for an independent investigation into the allegation that a staggering N3.7 trillion was discreetly inserted into the 2024 budget for alleged non-existent projects,“ he said.