Adebayo Adenrele
A spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council in the 2023 general election, Daniel Bwala has said budget padding by the National Assembly is not illegal as insinuated by the general public.
NEWSTODAYNG recall that the senator representing Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi now suspended, alleged that the N28.7 trillion 2024 budget being implemented by President Bola Tinubu was done underground, with an added sum of N3 trillion.
Speaking with Journalists, Bwala cited an example of the former President of United States of America, George Bush, who requested for $48billion in a congress to execute war on terrorism but got $80 instead.
He said the National Assembly has the power to either add or subtract from the budget if they discover any insufficiencies or excesses.
He said: “Budget padding means altering the budget, either by adding or subtracting. Doing that is not illegal. If you look at the United States of America, when George W. Bush, in the wake of 9/11, came to Congress with a request of $48 billion to execute the war on terrorism, Congress multiplied it and gave him $80 billion. That is an alteration of the budget or padding because what the president asked for was $40 billion, but he got $80 billion.
“Aside from lawmaking and oversight, the national assembly also has the power to make approvals because the law says that they have the power of the purse. In US politics, it indicates the authority of Congress to control public spending. They are the ones that approve and make appropriations for the executive.
“If you remember, when the president presented the budget, they added N1.2 trillion to it. They have the power to do that if they realise that the work needed to be done requires more funding. In terms of subtracting from the budget, if they feel that the budget is overblown based on their findings, they can subtract. For example, if you put the price of a product at N100 and they find out that it is N50, they can reduce the amount from N100 to N50. So, they have the power to add or subtract from the budget.
“They also have the power to add for themselves because their budget is done by the executive. If they feel the amount budgeted for them is not sufficient, they can add to it. It has always been a cooperation from both arms of government. Where the problem comes is if, for example, there is underlying money kept somewhere but does not have a definition of the intended project or location.”