NDLEA Denies Padding Its Budget With N4.5 Billion

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has denied allegations of budget padding leveled against the agency in some quarters of the media.

The reports had claimed that the NDLEA management padded its 2022 budget with N4.5 billion.

But in a statement titled “No N4.5b padded into NDLEA 2022 budget”, the NDLEA clarified that the sum was meant for construction of barracks for its personnel.

The agency’s director of media, Femi Babafemi, recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the construction of barracks for NDLEA officers across the country.

THE WHISTLER had reported that the approval would see the federal law enforcement agency getting its first barracks since its establishment 31 years ago.

Babafemi said, “It is public knowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari magnanimously approved the construction of barracks for NDLEA over a period of four years, starting from 2022 fiscal year.

“Investigations have confirmed that the amount in question is, indeed, for the construction of NDLEA barracks but typographically inputted as ‘police barracks’ in one of the documents attached to the proposal from the budget office.

“The typo error has since been corrected and the budget cleared on Tuesday by the Senate Committee,” he said.