Let Us Wash Our Dirty Linen In Public — NASS [GALLERY]

Lawmaker claims 'older' senators got N500m for constituency projects

Sen. Jarigbe accuses senior lawmakers of receiving N500 million apiece, setting off a furious Senate.

The claims that the 2024 budget was inflated by N3 trillion have sparked a contentious debate in the Senate right now.

The motion that Ogun West senator Solomon Adeola submitted, claiming that his rights as a senator had been violated, ignited the debate.

Lawmakers increased it by N1.2 trillion despite President Bola Tinubu's initial proposal of N27.5 trillion.

A senator from Ogun West voiced his displeasure, saying that he felt his input into the budgeting process was ignored.

Says Senator Adeola: “Ningi has maintained that N3 trillion in the budget was not linked to anything.

“My privilege has been breached because I was one of those who participated in the preparation of the budget. With what has transpired in the last three days, my privilege has been breached.”

The claim

Ningi was given the chance to provide evidence in favor of his claims that there were records attesting to the irregularity.

However, things quickly got out of control in the upper house of parliament when Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe, who represents Cross River North, claimed that some “older senators” had taken N500 million out of the budget for projects that benefitted their constituency, causing chaos.

Jarigbe said:

“Let us wash our dirty linen in public.

“Did you see me go to the media.”

Senate suspends Senator Ningi

The Nigerian Senate has temporarily removed Senator Abdul Ningi from office for a period of three months, on the grounds of suspected budgetary manipulation for 2024.

Senator Jimoh Ibrahim originally suggested suspending Ningi for a year, but this was later changed to three months.

This resulted from Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong's follow-up motion and suggestions from other legislators.

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