Akpabio To Ningi: Integrity Of Senate Has Been Damaged
Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, March 12, lamented that the integrity of the Senate has been totally damaged.
Speaking during an open session he presided over, Akpabio said the upper chamber has been subjected to ridicule as Nigerians are bashing the parliament.
The senate president recalled that President Tinubu presented a budget proposal of N27.5 trillion to the National Assembly last November.
He also dismissed rumours that the president presented a budget estimate of N25 trillion, a move that has been clarified by the presidency also.
He said: “Nigerians are bashing the Senate. Many Nigerians will never in future come back to respect this chamber. The integrity of this chamber has been totally damaged and we wanted you to repair it with your speech.
“Instead of that, you said you have more documents to prove what you are saying. This thing is in the public glare. I have not received full details up to this moment. If you had given me full details, I would have been able to know what you know.
“So far, what you know is only known to you, it is not known to any other person. I don’t know how you rushed to the press carrying different versions. The social media is very fast. From Canada, the United States, everywhere, the story was budget padding by the Senate.
“I can quote a section of the Premium Times that said ‘this is the highest level of budget padding in Nigeria’s history where the budget passed a budget of N25 trillion but what we collect was N28 trillion.”
