“Critics don’t understand arithmetic of budget” — Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu says the alleged padding of the 2024 budget by the National Assembly is nothing but a lack of misunderstanding of the arithmetic of the budget by critics.

Mr Tinubu stated this on Thursday while hosting senators to Iftar at the State House.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the massive smuggling of projects into the 2024 budget by the lawmakers.

While justifying the action of the lawmakers, Mr Tinubu, who was making his first direct response to the padding controversy, said he understands the arithmetic of the budget but critics do not.

He went further to pray the lawmakers for “expeditious handling of the budget”.

“I know the arithmetic of the budget and the numbers that I brought to the National Assembly, and I know what numbers came back. I appreciate all of you for the expeditious handling of the budget. Thank you very much.

“Those who are talking about malicious embellishment in the budget; they did not understand the arithmetic and did not refer to the baseline of what I brought. But your integrity is intact,” he said.

President Tinubu told the leadership of the Senate that the integrity of the National Assembly must remain intact and that his administration would always encourage cooperation for the advancement of the nation.

“I am grateful for what you have been doing. The natural challenge we are facing will be over.

“On the current economic difficulty, we are about turning the corner. Our revenue has improved. All we have to do is to control expenditures and manage ourselves better. Light is at the end of the tunnel, and Nigerians will soon smile again,” the president said.

Background

Abdul Ningi, the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, had first exposed the National Assembly for the smuggling of the projects into the budget. However, the presidency denied the claim.

Despite the denial by the National Assembly and presidency, Mr Ningi produced a list of projects inserted by the lawmakers without a specific location.

PREMIUM TIMES obtained the list by Mr Ningi and verified some of the claims which turned out to be true.

Despite the evidence, the Senate still suspended Mr Ningi for three months while the executive has been on a campaign to justify the inclusion of the projects.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, recently attempted to justify the action of the lawmakers.