Senator representing the PDP Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi has said the national Assembly has the right to tinker with the 2024 budget
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday night, Ningi also addressed the controversy surrounding his interview with the BBC, stressing that he was misrepresented and never accused the presidency of running two budgets.
“I don’t like to use the word pad yet because there is no way the National Assembly will pad budget. The National Assembly is the owner of the appropriation. So, therefore what they do is to tinker with the budget. What the project does is a proposal. As long as the budget is not passed by the National Assembly, it remains a proposal.
“So, the tinkered budget is an absolute power of the National Assembly constitutionally. So, there’s nothing like padding.”
“I was misrepresented. That means the entire press release from the presidency was not based on the interview and I was very clear in that interview there was no time i said the Presidency or the President was implementing 2 budgets. There was no time, I said Bola Tinubu was against the north. There was no time i said I was representing the Northern senator’s forum.
“The introduction of that program. I said and my name is Senator Abdul Ningi, a PDP member, Representative Bauchi central. I’m speaking of myself. I have been in the Parliament for 17 years. In the course of the Parliament, I was the house leader from 2003- 2007. I was the deputy Senate leader from 2011 to 2015. I know the workings of the Parliament. I know what goes wrong in the Parliament. I’ve been a member of the Appropriation committee 2007 and 2011.
“I’m currently a member of the Appropriation committee of the House. They’re trying to play me against the Presidency and when you talk about the budget, you don’t talk about the Presidency, the owners of the budget are the National Assembly and that is where the battle line is drawn.
“It was a lengthy interview on the state of the Affairs of Nigeria and the budget issue actually occupied just one and half minutes. I said our forum has hired consultants to peruse through the national budgeting, in its entirety, with a view of bringing equity and fairness to the various political zones in the country. Right now, as we are speaking with the BBC, we have established beyond reasonable doubt that the over 25 trillion with the budget has a name, has a location and the appropriation.”
Responding to the claims of an addition of 1.27 trillion to the budget made by the president’s spokesperson, he said he was not aware of such an addition.
“The spokesman of the president, Bayo Onanuga said, the National Assembly actually added 1.27 trillion. That is what we are trying to establish. If we have an addition among other things, of the National Assembly budget. Is it not my prerogative to know, as a sitting senator, is it not the prerogative of Nigerians to also know? So, if I don’t know and other people want to? I am not aware of the figures and I am not aware of where those figures are going for and what are the details?”
Chioma Kalu
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