The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, has been accused of budget padding of up to N206bn in the humanitarian ministry’s budget.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, made this accusation before the Senate Committee on Special Duties on Monday.
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Farouq claimed certain projects requested for the North East Development Commission and National Social Safety Net Project in the 2022 budget were not released but the Ministry budget for 2023 was inflated.
Defending the budget, the Humanitarian Minister said the money that was not released was multiplied almost 10-fold in the new budget.
The minister said, “Yes, we made mention of the projects for 2022 that were not released, and part of it was for the NEDC.
“The money was not released, and now that we have seen it recurring by almost 10-fold, we are also going to seek clarification from the Ministry of Finance to know why the increase occurred despite the fact that the previous year, the money requested wasn’t released for the projects. So, we will get the details and then send them to you. ”
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, moved a motion to summon the finance minister to defend the extra money in the budget.
