A controversy over the 2024 Appropriation Act has sparked a heated argument between two senators, Jimoh Ibrahim and Abdul Ningi, who have accused each other of spreading false information and endangering the peace of the country.
Senator Ibrahim, a member of the Appropriation Committee and representing Ondo South Senatorial District, has called on the Federal Government to charge Senator Ningi to court for criminal misinformation and breach of peace in the National Assembly and the country by extension.
He made this call in a chat with Senate correspondents on Monday, where he denied the claim by Senator Ningi that the country has two Appropriation Acts for 2024.
“It is not true that we have two Appropriations. Senator Ningi must be charged to court for conduct likely to cause breach of peace and criminal misinformation,” Ibrahim stated.
He also threatened to write a letter to the Inspector General of Police to investigate the circumstance leading to the approval of two 2024 Appropriation Acts and bring the culprits to book, if the Senate fails to act within the next seven days.
Senator Ningi, on the other hand, has made a U-turn regarding some claims he made regarding the 2024 Appropriation Act, which he had earlier alleged was anti-north and favoured President Bola Tinubu.
He clarified that he never suggested that President Tinubu is implementing two budgets or that he was biassed against the North, in another chat with Senate correspondents on Monday.
He said he stands by his utterance as a Senator and not the Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum, that it has been established beyond doubt that N25trn was rightly allocated in the budget, citing three parameters (money, project and location) but cannot ascertain the project location for the other N3trn.
The Presidency had on Sunday described as false, a claim by Senator Ningi that the Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget.
According to a statement by a Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the senator’s claim that the National Assembly passed N25 trillion as the 2024 Budget is false, adding that N28.7 trillion was passed and signed into law by President Tinubu.
The statement also described as “far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status”, the claim by Senator Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District, that the 2024 Budget was anti-north.
The 2024 Appropriation Act, which was themed “Budget of Renewed Hope”, has a projected revenue of ₦19.60trillion, aggregate proposed expenditure of N28.78 trillion, and a deficit of ₦9.18trillion.
The Act, premised on the revised 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), shows a 77% increase in projected revenue and a 16% increase in expenditure, when compared to the 2023 Appropriation Act.
Meanwhile, the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), a group of senators from the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has distanced itself from the allegations made by its chairman, Senator Abdul Ningi, on the 2024 budget.
In a statement issued on Monday, the NSF said that Ningi was expressing his personal opinion, which was “skewed, incorrect and misleading”, and that he did not represent the position of the forum or the Northern Senators.
The statement, signed by the NSF secretary, Senator Musa Garba, said that the forum was fully supportive of President Tinubu and his administration and that it was satisfied with the budget process and outcome.
The budget controversy has raised concerns among Nigerians about the transparency and accountability of the budget process and the implications for the country’s economic and social development.
