Former APC Chairman and Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has expressed deep concern on the controversy surrounding budget padding within the Senate.
Oshiomhole lamented that the Senate’s integrity had been exposed and criticized the situation, stating that it was akin to the Senate being laid bare in the public sphere.
He conveyed his thoughts during a Senate session, contributing to the discussion prompted by Bauchi Central Senator Abdul Ningi’s assertion of a discrepancy in the 2024 budget figures.
Ningi, Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, alleged that the National Assembly approved a budget of N25 trillion, contrary to the N28.7 trillion being implemented by the Federal Government.
This revelation was disclosed in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service.
According to Oshiomhole: “We have been stripped naked in the market place, so we can’t now wrap it up like it’s nothing
“He has made credible contributions in this Senate so I think he can still remedy it having agreed that something went wrong.
“What was the figure in the Appropriation Bill that was approved? Somebody answered N28 billion, therefore, any suggestion that it was N25 billion is simply a lie.
“The problem of trying to defend a lie is that you have to stick to more lies to defend lies
“Ningi has a duty to his children that he will not be the man reported in the media as saying what is not true.”
