Budget Padding: Funds for Constituency Projects Cause Of Agitations Among Senators – Suswam

Former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam, has said that agitations among most members of the Senate is usually instigated by the  leadership of the National Assembly, which according to him, are disposed normally to taking the lion’s share of constituency projects.

Suswam stated this on Wednesday when he appeared on Arise Television in an interview.

He said, “If the budget signed by the President was not more than the initial submission, there was no padding.

“The issue is that the leadership of the National Assembly normally takes the lion’s share of constituency projects, and this agitates most members and senators.”

The 2024 Budget has been a subject of controversy, following allegations by Senator Abdul Ningi the budget was padded to the tune of N3.7 trillion tied to no projects.

Ningi, in an interview with BBC Hausa, claimed that the Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget and that the N28.7 trillion Budget passed and signed into law by President Tinubu was skewed against the North.

At the resumed plenary on Tuesday, the Red Chamber, under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, suspended Senator Ningi.

He subsequently tendered his resignation as the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, as Senators under aegis of the Forum on Monday disowned him and dissociated themselves from his claim.