Senate Committee Chairman on Finance and Senator representing Niger East, Muhammad Sani has said that there was nothing like budget padding in the 2024 approved appropriation.
He stated this while addressing journalists in Minna on Monday, shortly after flagging off an empowerment scheme for over two thousand eight hundred constituent members, where they were presented with the sum of ₦50, 000 each.
According to him, Ningi’s allegation may be right or wrong however, the embattled senator did not follow the appropriate channel provided by the Red Chamber.
The claim by Senator Abdul Ningi that over ₦3tn worth of projects in the 2024 Appropriations Act was without a specific location, had led to his suspension from the Senate last week.
While presenting a cash donation of ₦50, 000 to his constituent members affected by the activities of bandits in Shiroro area of the state, Sani explained that the gesture would help the victims settle back into life faster than they had envisaged.
Although there is currently a growing concern over insecurity in some parts of the state, Sani said there has been an appreciable gain in the fight against insecurity, adding that government is modest with communicating security details as a strategy to win the fight against bandits.
On the issue of hunger, Niger State Deputy Governor, Yakubu Garba also present at the event, explained that the subsistence agricultural produce was no longer supplying adequate food production to the state, and to the nation at large.
He added that the state government’s policy on agriculture was intended to ensure food security in the country.
