Tuesday witnessed a Senate in turmoil as Senator Olamilekan Adeola, Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, raised a Point of Order in response to allegations by Senator Abdul Ningi, former Senate Deputy Leader and Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum. The situation escalated when Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe accused some senior senators of receiving N500 million each from the alleged N3 trillion budget padding in the N28.7 trillion 2024 Appropriation Act.
Senator Ningi raised concerns about the possible N3 trillion budget padding, stating that the budget passed by the National Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year is N25 trillion, while the one being implemented by the Presidency is N28.7 trillion.
The Senate erupted in a heated exchange as senators expressed varying views on the matter. Senator Jarigbe alleged that some senior senators received N500 million each, causing further uproar on the Senate floor.
“All of us are culpable. Some so-called Senior Senators here got 500M Naira each from the 2024 Budget, I am a ranking Senator and I didn’t get anything. No Senator has a right to accuse Senator Ningi,” Jarigbe claimed.
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, attempted to restore calm amidst the chaos. Meanwhile, Senator Ningi had earlier asserted in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (Hausa Service) that there was a discrepancy between the N28.7tn budget being implemented by the Presidency and the N25tn approved by the National Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year.
In the interview, Senator Ningi disclosed, “Apparently, we discovered ₦3trn was inserted into the budgets for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”
Despite these claims, the Senate, through its spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, refuted the allegations, stating that there was no budget padding in the 2024 appropriation. Adaramodu emphasized that the budget processes were transparent and approved in public ceremonies.
