By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A senator from Cross River State, Mr Agom Jarigbe, has alleged that some senior senators were allocated about N500 million each in the 2024 budget of N28.7 trillion.
The federal lawmaker made this allegation on the floor of the upper chamber of the National Assembly on Tuesday during a debate on the accusation of budget padding raised by another senator, Mr Abdul Ningi.
Mr Ningi had claimed that only N25 trillion of the budget could be traced and verified, while N3.7 billion could not be matched to any item line in the appropriation law.
The matter, which was discussed at the red chamber of the parliament today, generated outbursts on the floor of the Senate.
In his contribution, Mr Jarigbe bust the burble and said, “All of us are capable. Some so-called senior senators here got N500 million each from the 2024 budget.
“I am a ranking senator, but I did not get anything. No senator has a right to accuse Senator Ningi.”
Immediately after he said this, the Senator turned into a rowdy session, with some lawmakers fuming and protesting against this.
It took the intervention of the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, to douse the tension before proceedings continued.
