Budget Padding: Peter Obi Calls For Total Review Of 2024 Budget

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has called for a total review of the 2024 Nigerian budget.

Obi made the call in a statement on Monday via his account on the X platform in which he urged both the executive and legislative arms of government to review the budget in order to protect its integrity.

The former Governor of Anambra State said his call is based on the controversies which have trailed the 2024 budget.

Recall that Bauchi Central Senator, Abdul Ningi, had alleged that the 2024 budget was padded with over N3 trillion, and the budget being implemented by the executive arm is not the same passed by the National Assembly.

Both arms of government have denied the allegation and Ningi has been suspended for three months based on the allegation.

However, Obi has called for a total review of the budget based on the allegations.

He wrote: “Having followed the controversies trailing the 2024 budget, and having read some of the budgetary provisions and allocations of resources, I wish to respectfully appeal for a total review of the entire budget.

“The Executive and Legislative arms should initiate an immediate review of the budget as it is still in early days of implementation in order to enable them do urgent virement of resources to critical areas.

“The nation’s resources should adequately be appropriated to critical areas like security, fighting poverty and solving the challenges of hunger and food insecurity, power supply, especially considering the difficult times that we are in.”