The Chairman of Northern Senators Forum and Senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, has said there was another budget different from what was passed on the floor of the National Assembly.
Ningi disclosed that some experts have been reviewing the budget on behalf of the senators and a report will be presented to President Bola Tinubu, to ascertain if he was in the know or not.
Speaking as a guest during an interview with BBC on Saturday, the Senator disclosed that the Northern elite is not happy with this government as the North has been neglected.
According to online newspaper, Premium Times, Ningi said, “For the last three months, we have employed private financial auditors to extensively examine the 2024 budget. We have uncovered significant unauthorized changes and additions in the budget that would have a widespread negative impact on the nation as a whole.
“We are supposed to meet with the senate president and show him the irregularities we saw in the budget and let him know our concerns. we will not agree and support spending money on what we are not aware of. Because apart from the budget National Assembly passed, some people went behind our back and prepared another budget we are not aware of. There were inclusions we don’t know about, but our experts are still working on it.
“Example, we had a budget of N28 trillion but after our thorough checks we found out that it was a budget of N25 trillion. How and where did we get the additional N3 trillion from, what are we spending it for?
“And there are many other issues we have discovered. We are going to meet with the president and show him, we will ask him if he is aware of all these things that are happening. We will show him and ask him if he is aware of it, and what he intends to do to those who partake in the whole manipulations and inclusions.”