Northern Senators Forum (NSF) has strongly and collectively dissociated itself from the action of Senator Ningi on budget padding.
The Northern Senators Forum (NSF) on behalf of the Senators from the 19 Northern States and the FCT has refuted claims made by Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central), distancing themselves from his recent assertions of 2024 budget padding.
The NSF, in a unified statement, declared that Senator Ningi’s allegations were his personal opinions and not reflective of the collective stance of the Northern Senators saying the Chairman of the NSF, Ningi “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.”
The forum said “The budget was presented to the National Assembly during a joint session of the two chambers of the 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.
“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.”
Contrary to Senator Ningi’s assertion of a N25 trillion budget, the NSF asserted that the budget presented by President Tinubu was N27.5 trillion, with the National Assembly’s approval leading to a revised total of N28.7 trillion. The forum categorically denies any budget padding and emphasises that Senator Ningi’s claims are unsubstantiated and not representative of the Northern Senators’ consensus.
The NSF expresses strong disapproval of Senator Ningi’s actions, which they described as “grossly unparliamentary.”
The forum further pledged their support to the president saying “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,” NSF added.
