While the routine dishonesty about common patrimony is oddly familiar, the Senate has taken budget buccaneering and heist to an uncommon height. What Nigerians deserve is not a deft dismissal of the very weighty allegation levelled by an experienced member who is in a position to know the facts; but a patent explanation, with facts and figures, to seriously debunk the allegations.
Padding is a recurring issue in the Nigerian National Assembly and past presidents have said as much. The subtle plot to legitimise theft, fraud, and corruption came to the public knowledge in 2017 when Jibrin, as chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, alleged that the 2016 national budget was “padded” by principal officers to the tune of N4 billion, while 10 committees of the House introduced projects worth about N284 billion into the budget illegally.
Notably, whistleblower Ningi has been a part of the sleaze for 17 years of being in the Senate and got the hammer for apparently breaking the oath of nondisclosure of plundering of the commonwealth. Until he resigned on the day he got suspended, he was chairman of the Northern Senators Forum. But none of the northern caucus showed up in Ningi’s defence.
Lest Akpabio forgets, it was under his watch that the NASS elected to purchase SUVs worth billions of naira in the middle of austerity. Nigerians have not forgotten his Christmas “prayers” sent to “accounts” and “emails” of each senator. That is Akpabio’s Senate with no guardrails! Now, it is the turn of some privileged principal officers, in breach of public trusts, to award themselves N500 million that will never be accounted for.
The federal government is considering a new policy that would enable consumers to directly purchase pre-paid meters from approved suppliers as part of its efforts to bridge the market gap estimated at eight million. The challenge of obtaining Certificate of Occupancy in Lagos and some other states appears intractable as business people struggle to get valid security for loans and many properties without such valued documents.
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