Senator Agom Jarigbe, Senator Abdul Ningi
By Our Reporter
Senator Agom Jarigbe, the senator representing Cross River North Senatorial District, has said that some ‘senior’ senators received N500 million each from the 2024 budget.
He made the revelation on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday amid controversy over budget padding allegations made by Senator Abdul Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ningi had alleged that the Senate leadership padded the 2024 budget with N3.7 trillion.
Senator Ningi, who was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Population, in a recent interview with BBC Hausa alleged that the National Assembly passed a budget of N25 trillion for the 2024 fiscal appropriation year.
According to the lawmaker, the passed budget is in contrast with the N28.7 trillion being implemented by the federal government.
Meanwhile, Senator Abdul Ningi, has resigned as the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum.
Ningi who made his resignation known in a letter dated March 11, 2024, and addressed to the Secretary of the Forum, said his resignation was necessitated by the controversy surrounding his claim that the National Assembly under the leadership of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, padded the 2024 budget.
The letter reads, “I will like to resign my position as the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum. This is of course necessitated by unfolding events in the National Assembly, the North and the Nation at large.
“I will like to specially thank members of the forum for the opportunity given to me for the last eight (8) months to spearhead this very important-forum. I believe this forum is very important and fundamental to the progress and development of Northern Nigeria.”
The Senate earlier suspended Senator Ningi for three months over allegations of budget padding.
