The Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Abdul Ningi has insisted that projects worth N3.7 trillion in the 2024 budget are not traceable.
He also said there was no time he said President Bola Tinubu is operating two separate budgets for 2024.
Ningi told the BBC Hausa Service that the Northern Senators Forum had discovered that the 2024 budget had an addition of N3 trillion unknown to the senators.
He said the forum would soon confront the Senate President Godswill Akpabio with the findings of experts it had engaged to scrutinize the 2024 budget and would meet President Tinubu over the issues.
He said the budget was lopsided against the North.
Ningi said what he said during his interview were his personal opinion and not that of the Northern Senators Forum.
Earlier, the Presidency had refuted Senator Ningi’s claims over the padding of the 2024 budget.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said President Tinubu presented a budget proposal of N27.5 trillion on Nov. 29, 2023 to the joint session of the National Assembly made up of N9.92 trillion recurrent expenditure, Debt Service N8.25 trillion and Capital Expenditure N8.7 trillion.
“Acting under the banner of Northern Senators’ Forum, Ningi, falsely claimed in an interview he granted BBC Hausa Service, that the national assembly debated and passed N25 Trillion as 2024 budget and not the N28.7 Trillion that is being implemented by the Federal Government.
“Contrary to the strange view expressed by Ningi, there was no way the senate could have debated and passed a N25 Trillion budget that was not presented to the national assembly.
“We don’t expect a ranking senator not to pay due attention to details before making wild claims,” Onanuga said.
