Tag: Ningi

• …say there’s no wrongdoing in 2024 budget

The Northern Senators Forum (NSF) on Monday, March 11, disowned claims by its chairman, Senator Abdul Ningi that the executive is executing two separate 2024 Appropriation Acts.

The Northern Senators in a statement in Abuja said that the view expressed by Ningi on the BBC Hausa Service on the 2024 budget was his personal opinion.

The statement was signed by Senators Aminu Iyal Abass (Adamawa) and Ibrahim Bomoi (Yobe state) for Northeast; Senators Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (Katsina) and Lawal Adamu Usman (Kaduna) for Northwest; and Senators Jibrin Isah (Kogi), Diket Plang (Plateau) and Saliu Mustapha (Kwara) for North Central zone.

The statement reads: “We, the undersigned on behalf of the Senators from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum (NSF), hereby state that Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bauchi Central Senatorial District, who also happens to be the chairman of our forum, was on his own in the claims he made on the BBC Hausa Service on the 2024 budget.

“As such, the view he expressed was his personal opinion, sentiment and unfortunately skewed, incorrect and misleading.

“That there was never a time where we held a meeting and mandated Senator Ningi to address the press on the said matter.

“That the budget was presented to the National Assembly during a joint session of the two chambers – Senate and House of Representatives – by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November 29, 2023, in line with the requirement of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Read Also: BREAKING: Projects worth N3.7tr in 2024 budget not traceable, Ningi insists

“That both chambers of the National Assembly diligently and meticulously debated, processed and passed the proposal of the President. And satisfied with it, the President assented to it.

“It is clear that Mr President presented a budget of N27. 5 trillion to the National Assembly and the Assembly passed a budget of N28.7 trillion based on the need to make increases or decreases in the appropriations of the various MDAs which is in tandem with the legislative powers of the National Assembly in order to address critical projects and services across various sectors.

“Therefore, the statement made by Senator Ningi that the 2024 budget presented to the National Assembly by Mr President was the sum of N25 trillion was not correct and that should not be taken as the position of the Northern Senators Forum.

“That to the best of our knowledge there was no budget padding, whatsoever that was done to the 2024 budget. The assertion by Senator Ningi that certain things were done to the bill is his personal opinion. It is not the view of the generality of us, the Northern Senators.

“Hence, we strongly and collectively dissociate ourselves from his action which was grossly unparliamentary.

“That, we, the Northern Senators are solidly behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and we will continue to support him to succeed in addressing the challenges facing our country. Nigeria, at this particular moment, does not need ethnic sentiments but collaborations of all to bring prosperity to our beloved country, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We will continue to work with our brothers and sisters from the southern part of the country to move our country forward for the benefit of all and sundry.”

Senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim, has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to urgently arrest and prosecute Senator Abdul Ningi for claiming that the National Assembly passed two versions of the 2024 budget.

Ibrahim, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Inter-Parliamentary and a member of the Appropriation Committee, said the call has become necessary to redeem the image of the National Assembly and the country in general over false claims made by Ningi concerning the 2024 budget.

Read Also: Senator Ningi’s claim on 2024 budget false, misleading, says Presidency

He said that the National Assembly neither passed two separate 2024 budgets nor is the executive currently operating two sets of budgets.

He vowed to seek an order mandamus from a court of competent jurisdiction to compel the IG and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi to prosecute Ningi for conduct capable of causing a breach of the peace.

He said that the claims made by Ningi have tarnished the image of the National Assembly and the country in the eyes of the international community.

Details shortly…

A Northern organization, Arewa Think Tank, has expressed its disappointment over the recent remarks made by Abdul Ningi, the chairman of the Northern Senators Forum.

According to the group, Senator Ningi’s assertion during an interview with BBC Hausa Service, claiming that the National Assembly passed a budget of N25 trillion for 2024, contradicts the N28.7 trillion budget currently being implemented by the federal government.

Senator Ningi who represents Bauchi Central acted under the banner of the Northern Senators Forum when he made the claims in an interview he granted BBC Hausa Service.

The lawmaker also lamented in that interview that things have become worse in the country under President Bola Tinubu’s government, adding that Nigerians are going through a lot of challenges

Addressing a press conference, the Chief Convener of Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, said the claims by Senator Ningi that President Tinubu-led federal government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget, contained no single iota of truth whatsoever in the allegation.

He said: “To begin with, President 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 of N8.25 Trillion, and Capital Expenditure of N8.7 Trillion.

“This was widely reported by the media and other relevant channels of communication. President Tinubu did not present a budget of N25 Trillion.

Read Also: Senator Ningi’s claim on 2024 budget false, misleading, says Presidency

“We cannot make any sensible point out of the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, because there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed an 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 and ambiguous claims.

“We consider it necessary and 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 which Senator Ningi is part and parcel of, 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 make it clear to the understanding of Nigerians 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 the exercise of its power of appropriation.

“On the uncharitable claim that the 2024 budget was anti-North, we found such a position as canvassed by Senator Ningi too far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status from the Northern region of the country. We distance ourselves from the lawmaker on this.

“President Tinubu is leading a government that is fair and equitable to every part and segment of Nigeria. In terms of funding, distribution of capital, and priority projects, the 2024 Appropriation Act was not skewed against any section of the country.”