Bola Tinubu assured the 10th Senate leadership on Thursday that despite recent allegations of budget padding, the integrity of the National Assembly remains uncompromised.
During a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner hosted at the State House in Abuja, Tinubu emphasized his administration’s commitment to fostering cooperation between the executive and judiciary for national progress.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed Tinubu’s remarks during the event.
Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central, PDP, had accused the Tinubu-led government of implementing a different budget from the one approved on January 1, 2024. Ningi, who chaired the Northern Senators’ Forum and Senate Committee on Population, claimed in a BBC Hausa Service interview that a N25tn budget was passed, not the N28.7tn currently being implemented, alleging that N3.7tn could not be accounted for in the 2024 budget.
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The Senate responded to Ningi’s allegations by suspending him for three months during a plenary session on March 12.
Reacting to the allegations for the first time in public, Tinubu said, “I know the arithmetic of the budget and the numbers that I brought to the National Assembly, and I know what numbers came back.
“I appreciate all of you for the expeditious handling of the budget. Thank you very much.
“Those who are talking about malicious embellishment in the budget; they did not understand the arithmetic and did not refer to the baseline of what I brought. But your integrity is intact.”
