Ningi also said he was speaking in his personal capacity and not representing the Northern Senators Forum
By Kehinde Okeowo
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator representing Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi has refuted claims that he accused President Bola Tinubu of deviating from the 2024 budget that passed by the national assembly.
He made this known on Monday in Abuja, while speaking with newsmen on the matter.
TheNiche had earlier reported that Ningi made the submission during a recent interview with BBC Hausa.
The senator, who reportedly spoke under the banner of the Northern Senators Forum was quoted to have claimed that the National Assembly passed N25 trillion as 2024 budget and not the N28.7 trillion that is being implemented by the Federal Government.
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Countering Ningi’s claims on Sunday, the presidency swiftly dismissed the interview, saying it was unfortunate that such was coming from a high-ranking senator.
“There is no truth whatsoever in the allegation made by Sen. Ningi that President Tinubu is operating two budgets for 2024,’’ Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, stated.
He went on to explain that on November 29, 2023, President Tinubu presented a budget of N27.5 trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly.
He also added that the budget was made up of N9.92 trillion recurrent expenditure; debt servicing of N8.25 trillion and capital expenditure of N8.7 trillion.
However, while reacting to the report by the British media giant, Ningi said he was thoroughly misrepresented and was taken aback by the twist of events.
He further clarified that he was not representing the Northern Senators Forum as reported, but spoke in his personal capacity.
Ningi said: “With the press release I saw in the media yesterday, I am taken aback.
“At no time did I say Bola Tinubu was implementing two budgets. There was no time. At no time did I say Bola Tinubu was biased against the north.
“At no time did I say Bola Tinubu is implementing a N25 trillion budget. There is no way I will talk about N25 trillion and N28 trillion.”