Special Adviser to the President on Information and
Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, has tackled Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP,
over his statement on the alleged padding of the 2024 Appropriation Act.
Onanuga told Obi to stop jumping into matters in the public
space without first of all confirming their authenticity.
“There was no padding. My advice: don’t always jump into a
matter in public space without first of all confirming its authenticity,” he
wrote under a tweet by Obi on the alleged padding of the 2024 budget.
Recall that Obi had earlier decried the lack of transparency
in managing public funds over the matter, stressing that it’s a breach of
trust.
The statement followed the claim by Senator Abdul Ningi
alleging that projects worth N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act are
not traceable.
Ningi, who is the Chairman of Northern Senators’ Forum, had
alleged that the National Assembly debated and passed N25 trillion as 2024
budget and not the N28.7 trillion that is being implemented by the Federal
Government.
He made the allegation while speaking in an interview with
the BBC Hausa Service.
The senator also accused the President Bola Tinubu
administration of not being fair to all sections of the country in the
implementation of the budget.
Reacting to Ningi’s allegations, Obi said it was deeply
disconcerting and a matter of grave concern and even shameful to read about the
alleged N3 trillion discrepancy between the budget approved by the Nigerian
Senate and the one being implemented by the presidency.
Obi said it’s worrying because the amount involved
represents over 10 per cent of the national budget.
According to him, Nigerians deserve full accountability of
all the scarce resources placed in public trust.
“Therefore, we, the Nigerian people, demand a public
explanation from both the National Assembly and the Presidency regarding the
purpose and process of adding this alleged N3 trillion,” Obi said.
The Presidency had in a statement on Sunday, said the claim
by Senator Ningi was “false and there is no truth whatsoever in the
allegation”.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
With Tinubu at the saddle of presidency, Nigerians are in for a fiscal comedy. Senate with Godswill Akpabio we are doomed.
ReplyDeleteAre you now telling me that the man that confirmed the padding was not settled (bribed), why do we like covering evil just to enrich our pocket, but one thing is vanity upon vanity, one day we will account for every thing we do on earth here. You just want to insult Peter Obi, he has been your nightmare ever since the general election,
ReplyDelete