21/03/2024
WHO IS AFRAID OF SENATOR GODSWILL AKPABIO?
By Idorenyin Aquaisua
It is noticed that shortly after the Senate on March 12, 2024, invoked its relevant standing rules to suspend Senator Abdul Ningi for three months for making a baseless claim that the 2024 budget was padded with N3 trillion, the spate of orchestrated attack on the person of the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has intensified.
On a cursory look, it could appear as both those spoiling for ‘war’ against Akpabio and their allies calling for his head were patriotic entities who are genuinely concerned about preserving key democratic values to promote the wellbeing of the nation. But, a more critical evaluation of the situation and the facts in contention would rather indicate that the reasons for the volatile attack are more political than rational. Accordingly, the calls and demands made by these contending interests are somewhat misguided, spiteful, needless and absurd.
Whether it is to discuss Ningi’s defense on the floor of the Senate that he was misquoted or the inherent iambic details of the discordant 2024 budget padding lyrics, and the attendant demand by Ningi’s Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that Senator Akpabio should resign to allow for investigation of his engagements in the 2024 Budget making process, etc., the central issue in the narrative is the claim that the 2024 budget was padded to the tune of over 3.7 trillion naira.
Thus, it is pertinent to ask: what was the value of President Tinubu’s budget proposal to the National Assembly? How much did the National Assembly passed as the 2024 budget and why?
Records have shown that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu personally presented the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. In his speech before presenting the budget proposal, President Tinubu declared: ‘an aggregate expenditure of 27.5 trillion naira is proposed for the federal government in 2024, of which non-debt recurrent expenditure is 9.92trillion naira while debt service is projected to be 8.25 trillion naira and capital expenditure is 8.7 trillion Naira”
And, following the conclusion of legislative assignments on the Budget by the various Standing Committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Senator Adeola Olamilekan while presenting the harmonized report at plenary explained that in consideration of genuine requests for additional funding for underfunded items in the budget of ministries, departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government the budget has increased by 1.2trillion naira: from 27.5 trillion naira to 28.7 trillion naira.
Satisfied with the process, the National Assembly, at plenary passed the 2024 Budget of 28.7 trillion naira and same was assented to by President Tinubu on Monday, January 1, 2024.
Facts available publicly further indicate that the claim that 3.7 trillion naira in the 2024 budget is not attached to cost items is both factually incorrect and a misleading perspective to the budget padding narrative.
It is established that the ‘contested’ 3.7trillion naira is the budget for the Judiciary, National Assembly, INEC, TETFUND, North East Development Commission (NEDC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Government Owned Enterprise (GOE). And, customarily, as evidenced in previous years budgets, the breakdown of the budget details of these agencies are not captured in the budget document because they are statutory agencies of government whose budgets are on the first line charge.
Is it not ridiculous that a ranking Senator in the mould of Senator Ningi, could not properly understand this reality, and inexcusable that he could not correctly delineate these facts?
It goes without the saying that budget padding is a highly objectionable and consequential national economic malady that should neither be supported nor dignified with sectional sentiments by individuals or blind partisan affinity by any political party.
Thus, genuine calls for thorough investigation of the alleged budget padding saga should be properly examined and, where there are merits, conducted by relevant statutory agencies meticulously, publicly and transparently to strengthen public confidence in the legislature.
Also, if the intent is to deepen democratic engagements and actions, those aggrieved by the Senate’s suspension of Senator Ningi could challenge the constitutionality of the senate’s action at the appropriate court rather than resort to misleading comments and inciting activities ostensibly designed to advance sectional agenda and achieve selfish political goals.
For many proverbial reasons, the call for Akpabio’s resignation by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is a boring display of showy opposition politics at a time that constructive synergy is highly demanded to address the besetting hash economic challenges facing the country.
If there is any meat in the budget padding narrative, the failure by the PDP, as a major opposition party, to reprimand its members who are serving as chairmen and members of the various standing committees and sub-committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives that scrutinized the budget is an objectionable demonstration of the endemic political hypocrisy that has undermined functional democracy in Nigeria and by extension meaningful national economic development.
More so, since legislative assignment on preparing a national budget is a whole lot of structured engagements and processes by various committees and sub-committees including harmonization of reports and the concurrence by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it becomes curious to ask why other Senators, The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives should be absorbed of blame if there is anything like budget padding as alleged?
Why single out Senator Akpabio for crucifixion?
Are the cocktails behind the alleged budget padding agenda on a sectional political vendetta or a battle of political attrition or what?
Who is afraid of Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
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