Senator Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, has asserted that the National Assembly did not contravene any laws by making new insertions in the 2024 budget.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Bagudu highlighted that since 1999, it has been customary for the National Assembly to include additional line items in the appropriation process to allocate funds for dedicated projects in their constituencies.
This practice often results in an increase in the approved budget from what was initially proposed by the president.
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The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has faced scrutiny amid allegations that the senate inflated the budget by N3.7 trillion.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for his resignation in light of these accusations. Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, who initially raised concerns about budget padding, was subsequently suspended for three months by the Senate.
Responding to these allegations, Bagudu emphasized that the new insertions made by the National Assembly did not breach any laws.
He clarified that while the president presented a bill to the National Assembly, the budget passed with modifications constituted an act by the assembly.
He said, “The president submitted a budget to the tune of N27.5 trillion and the National Assembly, in its wisdom, increased it to N28.7 trillion.
“When we presented the budget, it was at an exchange rate of N750 to a dollar but the assembly increased it to N800 to a dollar. That created more revenue.
“The assembly also appropriated that the Government Owned Enterprises contribute more revenue. Then there was the increase of the budget of the judiciary, legislature and executive.
“The president in signing the 2024 appropriation acknowledged that in democracy, institutions have their power and the National Assembly has the last word.
“The evolution of constituency projects and projects by National Assembly members, which did not begin now but since 1999, is a reflection of the challenge that elected persons are facing.
“There has been a long debate and a former president went up to the Supreme Court to define the appropriation power of the executive and the National Assembly. Later, there was an out-of-court settlement.
“Till now, this issue has not been resolved. So, what is the power of the National Assembly as regards the budget? There is no Supreme Court judgment and the choice of our democracy is that the National Assembly has the last word.
“Even when they pass an appropriation that assent is refused, after 30 days it becomes law.
“Do they have the right to increase a budget line? I will say yes.”
He added that there has been a misconception on why budgets for agencies regarded as statutory transfers do not have line items of their budgets disclosed.
“These are transfers for agencies that are created by the constitution or legislation. So, they have the right to draw up their own budget.
“They can be supervised by a committee but it is not the federal government that appropriates for them; the most popular ones are the NJC, FCT, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, NEDC, NDDC and others,” he said.