By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Presidency has vehemently denied accusations of budget padding against Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, following claims made by Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central (PDP).
Senator Ningi, representing the Northern Senators’ Forum, alleged in a BBC Hausa Service interview that the executive had inflated the 2024 budget by an additional N3 trillion, surpassing the approved amount.
Contrary to Senator Ningi’s assertions, the Presidency, through a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, clarified that President Bola Tinubu had initially presented a N27.5 trillion budget to the National Assembly on November 29, 2023.
The statement stated that the final budget passed by President Tinubu on January 1, 2024, amounted to N28.7 trillion, after the National Assembly exercised its appropriation powers to increase the proposed budget by N1.2 trillion.
Dismissing Senator Ningi’s claims as baseless, the Presidency affirmed the importance of factual accuracy before making such serious allegations.