Abdul Ningi

Abdul Ningi, the Senator representing Bauchi Central has lambasted the National Assembly leadership for the speed at which it passed the N27.5 trillion Budget for a second reading without having copies of the document.

Recall that the Senate had on Friday passed the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented before the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives by President Bola Tinubu for a second reading.

It was gathered that the Senators only spent two days debating the 43-paragraph speech presented by the President and the four-page lead debate by the Senate Leader, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi.

In an interview with Vanguard on Monday, Ningi described the debate on the general principles of the Appropriation Bill without documentation as strange for the National Assembly.

The former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives said that he had never seen a situation where lawmakers debated a presidential budget speech without the budget itself.

Ningi asserted that there was neither sectoral allocation nor details of the 2024 budget before the National Assembly.

He said: “This is a strange time for the National Assembly; I have not seen the National Assembly debating a presentation of the presidential speech. Essentially, what the president brought is more like MTEP, which the National Assembly passed.

“As I am speaking with you, no sectoral allocation nor detail of the 2024 budget is before the National Assembly. However, there is a strong signal that the 2024 budget will not undergo the necessary process and rituals. Appropriation is the key mandate of the National Assembly, see how they are throwing it under the bus.”