Budget Padding Allegation: Senator Ndume Says he Warned Ningi, But to No Avail

In a recent development surrounding the allegation of budget padding, Senator Ali Ndume, the Chief Whip of the Senate, revealed that he had cautioned Senator Abdul Ningi regarding the contentious issue, but his advice fell on deaf ears.

Senator Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, was recently suspended for three months by the Senate following his assertion that the 2024 budget was inflated by over N3 trillion, a claim refuted by his colleagues.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Senator Ndume expressed disappointment in Senator Ningi’s actions, emphasizing his personal involvement in the matter. “What he (Ningi) did was wrong because I was involved,” Ndume stated.

The controversy initially arose over allegations of skewed capital project allocation favoring the South, leading to claims of an inflated budget totaling N15 trillion. Senator Ndume clarified that the original budget proposal from the President amounted to N8.9 trillion, not N9 trillion as widely speculated.

Ndume recounted advising Ningi to seek professional analysis of the budget, cautioning against sensationalizing the issue for ethnic or political gain. Despite his warnings, Ningi persisted with his claims, failing to produce concrete evidence to support his assertions.

In response to Ningi’s assertions, the Presidency and several Senators condemned his claims as unfounded and detrimental to public discourse. Ningi, however, stood by his assertion that a significant portion of the budget lacked project allocations.