By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has said the allegiance song which lawmakers rendered to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the presentation of the 2024 budget was not right. He, however, said it is not a crime.
Recall that at the joint session of the National Assembly during the budget presentation on November 30, the song of allegiance, ‘On your mandate, we shall stand’ was rendered for Tinubu. All lawmakers, include those in the APC, LP and PDP stood during the song.
Ndume, who said he was not at the National Assembly during the budget presentation, said Tinubu was not the first to receive such song of allegiance. He recalled that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was cheered with ‘sai Baba’ during similar event when he was president.
He also recalled that during the days of Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s president, a House of Representative member rose and interrupted Obasanjo’s budget presentation with the scream in Hausa ‘karya ne,’ meaning it’s a lie.
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Ndume also praised Tinubu’s budget proposal for 2024, saying it was more realistic than previous budgets, especially as it concerns the ratio of recurrent expenditure to capital votes and other sectorial allocations.
He pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with Tinubu, saying the president has shown to be in-charge than Buhari whom he said recently confessed that he had more kleptocrats in his government than officials who meant well for the country.