Budget padding scandal is quietly rocking the National Assembly following complaints by the President, Muhammadu Buhari before signing the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law penultimate Friday.
Members across the two chambers, were angry about the development, told newsmen that some were not carried along on the projects inserted.
They spoke on condition of anonymity, alleging that only the leadership of the two chambers and members of their respective Appropriation Committees were beneficiaries.
The President had, while signing the 2022 Appropriation Bill and the 2021 Finance Bill into law in December 2021, expressed strong reservations on the “worrisome changes” made by the National Assembly to the budget estimate. He lamented the reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment’ projects.
Buhari accused the National Assembly of reducing provisions for about 10,733 projects and introducing 6,576 new projects, which increased the budget from N16.39tn by N735.85bn to N17.13tn
He also expressed his reservations on the “inclusion of new provisions totaling N36.59bn for National Assembly projects in the Service Wide Vote, which negates the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislative arm of government
