Tinubu reacts to Senator Ningi’s budget padding allegations

President Bola Tinubu has reassured the leadership of the 10th Senate that despite recent allegations of budget padding, the integrity of the National Assembly remains uncompromised.

He said his administration will always encourage cooperation between the executive and judiciary for the advancement of the nation.

Tinubu said this when he hosted the leadership of the Senate to a dinner on Thursday to break the Ramadan fast at the State House, Abuja.

Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central, PDP) had alleged that the Tinubu-led government is implementing a budget other than the one approved on January 1, 2024.

Ningi, who chaired the Northern Senators’ Forum and Senate Committee on Population, had contended in a BBC Hausa Service interview that a N25tn budget was debated and passed, not the N28.7tn that is currently being implemented.

He maintained that N3.7tn could not be accounted for in the 2024 budget.

However, at plenary on March 12, the Senate suspended Senator Ningi for three months over this claim.

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.”