The Presidency on Sunday said there was no iota of truth that President Bola Tinubu-led federal government was operating two versions of the 2024 budget as claimed by Senator Abdul Ningi.
TheHintsNews reports that 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 was being implemented by the federal government.
However, the presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said following the false claims made by Ningi, it considered it appropriate to inform Nigerians that there was no truth whatsoever in the allegation.
He recalled that Tinubu on November 29, 2023 presented a budget of N27.5 trillion 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.
Onanuga noted that this was widely reported, insisting that the President did not present a budget of N25 Trillion.
He pointed out that 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.
Onanuga stressed that they did not expect a ranking Senator not to pay due attention to details before making wild claims.
He added: “It is also important to let Nigerians know that the budget that President Tinubu signed into law on January 1, 2024 as passed by the National Assembly was N28.7 trillion.
“The National Assembly, in its wisdom, increased the amount proposed by the Executive by N1.2 trillion.
“In the spirit of democracy which allows give and take, President Tinubu didn’t withhold his assent to the Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly.
“We want to stress that if the budget figure was increased and made to be different from what the Executive proposed, it was the National Assembly that jacked it up in exercise of its power of appropriation.
“On the uncharitable claim that the 2024 budget was anti-North, we found such position as canvassed by Senator Ningi as too far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status.”
Onanuga maintained that Tinubu is leading a government that is fair and equitable to every part and segment of Nigeria.
He said in terms of funding, distribution of capital and priority projects, the 2024 Appropriation Act was not skewed against any section of the country.
The presidency stressed that the North as an integral part of the country is well covered in all areas, from security to agriculture, healthcare to education, and other important infrastructure such as roads, rail, dams, power and irrigation projects to support all year-round agriculture.
It said it was concerning that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could employ such primordial antics to fuel divisive rhetoric at a time well-meaning Nigerians are joining hands with the President to raise the spirit of national cohesion, unity and inclusive politics.
The presidency commended Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Publicity for setting the record straight, as well as Senators Steve Sunday Karimi (Kogi), Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue) and Kaka Sheu (Borno) for their forthrightness and for coming out against the misrepresentation of facts by Senator Ningi.