Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, recently addressed the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi over allegations of inflating the 2024 budget. According to Adaramodu, it is crucial to preserve the 10th Parliament as pillar of democracy and to act in the national interest. He categorically denied the existence of the budget padding, describing the accusations of inflating by N3 trillion as an arithmetic error and a breach of procedures.
Adaramodu clarified that the N3 trillion was for statutory transfers to government agencies as frontline charges, including entities such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBE ), the Public Complaints Commission, the National Judicial Council, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among others.
He also refuted allegations that N500 million was allocated to senators for constituency funds, saying the accusations were purely fictitious. Adaramodu urged journalists to examine the 2024 budget to check the allocations reserved for the National Assembly.
The Senate Committee Chairman stressed that the budget bloat was a serious budgetary infraction and a matter of integrity. He explained that the Deed of Appropriation is a public document, approved with total transparency. Adaramodu reiterated that the statutory transfers of N3 trillion were not fiscal bloat and that the accusations lacked merit.
This clear and firm position aims to dispel any misunderstanding and establish the truth regarding budgetary procedures, while emphasizing the Senate’s commitment to integrity and transparency.