Senator Garba Musa Maidoki, a senator from the Kebbi South Senatorial District, has claimed that the 2024 budget was approved exactly as the President had proposed. He observed that there was a conspicuous lack of examination or correction of mistakes in the document. He went on to say that because they could not view the entire budget paper, many senators had trouble figuring out how much money was allotted to certain industries.
He stated that due to divergent personal and political interests prevalent within the Senate, achieving consensus was challenging. He lamented the lack of patriotism among Senate members, highlighting it as a significant issue. Additionally, he expressed concerns regarding the uncertainty surrounding the loyalty of fellow lawmakers, making it difficult to discern alliances.
He said in an interview with The Sun, ”The committee leader warned us before the exercise not to even tamper with the budget document. Unfortunately, we couldn’t talk in unison because of several personal and political interests in the Senate. Patriotism is poor in the Senate.
Another challenge there is that you are not sure of the loyalty of the lawmakers. You don’t know who is on your side. I can confirm that the 2024 budget was passed the same way it was presented by the President. No scrutiny, and no correction was done to the document. Many of us cannot tell what was allocated to some places because we had no access to the complete document.”
If you would recall that Bauchi state Senator Abdul Ningi was suspended by the Senate after his claim that the 2024 was padded. Senator Ningi who was unable to justify his claim that the budget was padded on the Senate Floor was suspended for six months by the leadership of the Senate. However, some political analysts believe that the Senator must have gotten some evidence to back up his claims.
