Federal lawmakers under the aegis of Northern Senators’ Forum have lamented the current hardship in the country and declared that things were going worse since President Bola Tinubu took over on May 29 last year.
The Chairman of the NSF, Senator Abdul Ningi, a People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) member from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, stated this in an interview with the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) Hausa Service, monitored in Abuja on Saturday.
Ningi said the northern senators have hired consultants to scrutinise the 2024 national budget, which he alleged was padded by about N3 trillion by the executive arm of government.
But in a swift reaction, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, described as untrue, allegations of budget padding, levelled against the executive arm of government.
He said: “Based on my opinion, the government hasn’t performed to our expectations.
“Things are getting worse compared to when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the leadership of the country.
“I think President Bola Ahmed Tinubu didn’t even understand this country and he didn’t understand the difficulties of ruling a country like Nigeria.
“Probably, he has his thinking of what governance is, but I don’t blame him so much because when he was campaigning for the seat, there was no agreement or promise between him and the people.
“People were just blinded and voted for him because he supported former President Muhammadu Buhari when he was contesting.
“Some even voted for him because he is a Muslim, as such he needed their vote on whether he can or cannot do the right thing for the country.
“But the most painful thing is that northerners stood for him and did all they could to bring him to power, but unfortunately, there was no agreement between them and the president on what should be done to the North and the Northerners.
“Especially taking into consideration the importance and significant projects that North has been yearning and aspiring to get for a long time.
“For example, the Ajaokuta project, the Mambilla power project, the dredging of river Niger and other notable projects.
“What mostly disturbs my sleep is that we had a budget in 2013 and 2014 in which we earmarked billions of Naira, but it was neglected by President Goodluck Jonathan; when President Buhari came, we thought it was one of the projects he would pay attention to.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for over eight years. Even road construction like Kano-Abuja is not yet completed, as if it was cursed by someone, despite the road being the soul of our travellers in the North.
“These so-called leaders they forced on us, were not voted for by us. They brought religious issues, and ethnic and tribal issues into the process.
“They used propaganda, saying that no Hausa/Fulani would be trusted to lead the opposition because there would be no peace.
“If you look at it from this scenario, the majority of those in opposition are from the North-east and the North-west.”
Ningi said the northern senators have hired consultants to scrutinise the 2024 national budget which he alleged was padded by about N3trn by the executive arm of government.
He said, “This is true, for the past three months, we have engaged consultants to review the budget for us.
“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.
“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.
“We are to meet the president. We will talk to him about the Mambilla power project, Ajaokuta and the River Niger dredging. We will talk to him about the Niger Republic. Recently, they said they will construct a dam, this is not good for us.
“The action taken by ECOWAS has affected the relationship between Nigeria and Niger. There was an agreement that they would not construct a dam so that the Kainji Dam would be intact, and we would give them electricity in return.
“Over one billion US dollars was spent on Mambilla, BBC has reported. Where is that money? Who collected the money? We need to know and see what can be done.
“This Mambilla is like the future of the North. Every part of the country has what it holds as a symbol that will save them in the future.
“One of our weaknesses in the North is that we don’t love ourselves and our region so much that we don’t care about the future.
Ningi said the northern senators are still addressing the issue of transferring some departments of federal agencies to Lagos.
On the insecurity challenges in the North, Ningi lamented that the situation was getting worse.
He said, “These security challenges are happening in the North. There is nowhere in the South where someone will be abducted and spend seven days in custody of the abductors.
“Look at Katsina, Zamfara, and Benue. I am even afraid that one day we will wake up and see that a state like Zamfara has been taken away from the country. It is possible going by what is happening,” he stated.
However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adaramodu, has described as untrue, allegations of budget padding, levelled against the executive arm of government.
Adaramodu, who spoke with THISDAY in Abuja on Saturday night, said: “There is no budget padding as far as the Senate and the National Assembly are concerned.
“The National budget is a public document, which expressly stated the expected revenue and the expenditure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio is not aware of any varied execution of the 2024 appropriation mandate, as approved.
“The budget presentation and approval processes were made in the public glare, while the presidential ascent was also in a public ceremony.
“Any infractions would have been brought before the Senate, if any. The general public should be at rest that there is no budget padding anywhere and we are confident that the 2024 appropriation law shall be strictly executed, under strict legislative oversight,” he added.
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