Budget Padding Amounts To Political Terrorism — Rights Group Tells Akpabio

The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has described as ‘political terrorism’ the alleged padding of the 2024 budget with unapproved allocations by the National Assembly.

The rights group called for a thorough investigation into the allegation made by Abdul Ningi, senator representing Bauchi Central, who claimed that the 2024 budget was padded with N3tn.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said smuggling unbudgeted items into a lawfully passed budget will inevitably lead to the collapse of major socio-economic infrastructures.

“Therefore, we are of the considered position that the crime of padding up the budget by the National Assembly’s hierarchy is not different from political terrorism.

“Our worry however with this alarm by the Senator from Bauchi state is that he sounded as if he is out for a regional political warfare for his ethno-geographical area of Northern Nigeria and not from the point of view of a nationalist.

“This is why the allegations must be thoroughly investigated to ascertain the merits and veracity and then steps taken to identify the individuals responsible so they are brought to the court of competent jurisdiction to be prosecuted as terrorists,” Onwubiko stated.

Recall that Senator Ningi, the leader of the northern Senate caucus, told BBC Hausa that “huge damage” has been done to the north and the entire country in the budget through the development.

HURIWA asked the northern senators to eschew regional sentiments and confront the allegations of padding of the budget from a national viewpoint.

He maintained that budget padding is as bad as terrorism because it amounts to systemic heists of the resources of the public that ought to be channeled into building key infrastructures and social amenities to ameliorate the hard times confronting a majority of Nigerians.

The statement reads further, “HURIWA said it condemns any proven case of budget padding and is demanding that there is the need to name, shame and prosecute all those who are the masterminds of this mindless and heartless act of political terrorism and brigandage called budget padding just as we are demanding that they should be prosecuted as economic saboteurs and sanctioned harshly.”