The Presidency has refuted the allegation made by Senator Abdul Ningi that President Bola Tinubu is operating two versions of 2024 budget.
Bayo Onanuga , Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy , in a statement made available to PeoplesPen debunked the allegation, describing it as false claim.
Onanuga explained that ” Acting under the banner of Northern Senators’ Forum, Senator Ningi, falsely claimed in an interview he granted BBC Hausa Service, 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.
“To begin with, President Tinubu on November 29, 2023 presented a budget of N27.5trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly made up of N9.92 Trillion recurrent expenditure, Debt Service N8.25 Trillion and Capital Expenditure N8.7 Trillion.
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” This was widely reported. He did not present a budget of N25 trillion.
“Contrary to the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed a N25 trillion budget that was not presented to the National Assembly.
“We don’t expect a ranking Senator not to pay due attention to details before making wild claims.
“It is also important to let Nigerians know that the budget that President Tinubu signed into law on January 1, 2024 as passed by the National Assembly was N28.7trillion.
“As an avowed democrat, he will not engage and indulge in any unconstitutional action or act in any manner that assaults the Constitution of Nigeria by operating any budget outside the one approved by the National Assembly, which he dutifully signed into law.
“We want to state categorically that the only 2024 budget that is being implemented is the N28.7 Trillion budget passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President.
Included in the budget are statutory transfers to the Judiciary, National Assembly, Tetfund and others,” Onanuga said.