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BudgIT Supports Ningi over Budget Padding Allegation
As the over N3 trillion 2024 Budget scandal deepens, BudgIT, a civil organisation which simplifies the Nigerian budget, promoting transparency and fostering active citizen engagement, has backed Senator Abdul Ningi’s claim.
Co-founder and CEO of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde, threw his weight behind Ningi’s claims that over ₦3 trillion was allocated in the 2024 budget without details or expenditure items for what of the allocation was provided.
Onigbinde, said this when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday. Onigbinde said as the rowdy session by the Senate was ongoing, the BudgIT team fact-checked claims by Ningi.
Ningi, who recently resigned as chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum and faced suspension over budget allegations, had told the British Broadcasting Corporation in an interview that over N3 trillion is not tied to any project in the budget.
Speaking on Channels TV, Onigbinde said, “There should be a detailed breakdown of the budget. On that point, Ningi is right. But to say that we are running two parallel budgets, I don’t think that is factual.”
While acknowledging the absence of a breakdown for approximately N3.7 trillion in statutory transfers, Onigbinde however said this practice was not uncommon historically.
“If Senator Ningi says there is a N25trn budget, yes, that is the MDA’s budget. It’s different from the government-owned enterprises budget. In the current budget, the National Assembly gave a very broad summary of its allocations but there are no detailed allocations on a granular level that everybody can understand. TETFUND should not just get an allocation. What are you spending money on? INEC is collecting a huge chunk of funds but there is no public details about what the funds are used for.
“If you put all these together, that is around N3.5 trillion to N3.7 trillion. So, if Ningi wants to interrogate that there are components of the budget where there are no breakdown, that is very factual.”
“There are statutory elements in the budgets that do not have breakdown, but that does not seem unusual , it seems like the situation is from the past.
Historically, there are items in the budget that don’t have breakdown like statutory transfers like NJC, NDDC, TETFUND, which has been a campaign and advocacy point.
Onigbinde, also observed that several projects were allocated to agencies without capacity to deliver, citing examples such as the Ministry of Agriculture, where an initial proposal of N363 billion ballooned to N993 billion with questionable projects.
He warned that it is an attempt to stall development.
“The ministry of agriculture is the biggest culprit of this”, he said. “The executive proposed N363 billion for the ministry of agriculture budget. It came out to be N993 billion, over N600 billion worth of thousands of projects were put in. And you have some agencies that have become notorious . Federal Cooperative college , Orji River, is a school now building a town hall almost 1000 kilometres far away from the school. That is not accountability , what is the technical capability of the Federal Cooperative college to deliver a hall?
President Bola Tinubu has issued a passionate call for unity, resilience, and renewed patriotism, urging Nigerians to stand firm behind ongoing reforms aimed at rebuilding the country’s economic foundation.
Speaking during a grand reception in Awka, Anambra State, on the occasion of his state visit, President Tinubu acknowledged the current challenges facing the nation but assured the people that the hard choices were necessary for lasting prosperity.
“We continue to plead with Nigerians for their patience and understanding,” Tinubu appealed.
“We call on all patriots and progressives to rise and continue to work hard every day for the greatness of our dear country. We have no other country but Nigeria. We must make it great as the pride of the black race.”
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to inclusive development, citing progress made in economic reform, infrastructure investment, and improved public finance management.
“We met near-insolvent public finance… unsustainable multiple subsidies… a chaotic and debilitating forex regime. These monsters have been tackled,” he said.
Highlighting renewed investor confidence and growth in agriculture, manufacturing, and technology, Tinubu said the “Renewed Hope Agenda” was already yielding visible results.
He particularly commended Anambra for leading in innovation and development, referencing the commissioning of the Solution Fun City and Government House Mini-City as signs of progress.
Describing Governor Chukwuma Soludo as “a brilliant man” and “a thinker who knows the way,” Tinubu added: “We are working together for a better Anambra and Nigeria.”
The president also praised Anambra State for fully implementing and even surpassing the new national minimum wage, calling it “a signal of true leadership and compassion for the working class.”
Asserting the federal government’s commitment to equitable development, Tinubu promised increased investment in roads, power, rail, and digital infrastructure across all regions, including the Southeast.
White smoke has risen above the Sistine Chapel, the signal that cardinals have chosen a new pope on the second day of the conclave. His identity, and the name he will take as pontiff, will be revealed soon.
There are 133 voting cardinals, who have all been sequestered inside the Vatican during the conclave. Any one of them needed two-thirds of the vote to become the next pope. Take a look at how the voting process works.
As soon as the news of the white smoke spread through the Italian capital, some people began running through the streets of Rome to get to St. Peter’s Square. People continue to stream into the square from every alley that leads to the Vatican.
In the square itself, people are hugging and crying tears of joy.
While earlier the crowd was angling to get a good view of the Sistine Chapel chimney, they are now inching closer to the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica where the new pope is expected to emerge any moment.
Source: CNN
The Senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko, has told Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State to leave “old habits” of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) behind as he joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following Oborevwori’s defection, Nwoko, in a statement addressed to the governor, advised him to ensure his move to the APC is transformative.
Although he commended the governor for dumping the PDP, he advised him to leave behind “old deals” that destroyed the opposition party in Delta State.
He said, “Leave behind the politics of survival and step into the politics of legacy.”
“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Old habits, old politics, and the old deals that led to the gradual decline of the PDP in Delta must be left behind.”
Nwoko also maintained that the ruling party has already begun preparing for constitutional amendments, including the creation of Anioma and New Delta states.
“Let me remind you, this agenda was declared a done deal by the party leadership long before your defection, a testament to the APC’s commitment to correcting historical imbalances and ending regional marginalisation,” he said.
Therefore, he urged Oborevwori to embrace a new sense of purpose, lead the charge for constitutional reforms and demonstrate renewed dedication to fairness, inclusive development, and progressive governance.
He said: “Your defection must not be symbolic; it must be transformative. This is your opportunity to embrace a new sense of purpose and demonstrate renewed dedication to progressive governance, fairness, and inclusive development.
“The creation of Anioma State will finally give voice, identity, and institutional power to the aspirations of Delta North. It is a long overdue recognition of a people who have sought parity with their kinsmen.
“The proposed New Delta will address the deep internal asymmetries within the current Delta state structure. It will empower neglected communities, bring government closer to the people, and unlock new paths for economic growth.
