The Governance Accountability and Advocacy Centre (GAAC) debunked the rumour making the round that the 2024 budget was done to favour the southern part of the country.
The Group, which defended the federal government on the Appropriation law, said there was no truth in the allegations of lopsided allocations of 2024 budgetary funds as alleged by the Northern Senators Forum.
The GAAC, which carpeted the Northern Senators Forum, added that such fallacious claims were intended to cause disaffection among Nigeria’s federating entities.
The Group made this known at a press conference yesterday in Abuja and also said the budget was passed after careful consideration and debate by the National Assembly.
The convener of the Group, Okwa Dan, reassured Nigerians that the 2024 budget was designed to benefit everyone, irrespective of region or person.
The Group urged the Senators to interact among themselves as colleagues to ensure that the budget is implemented in a way that benefits the nation.
The Group also passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the National Assembly, describing them as patriotic, committed, and focused Nigerians.
“We would like to remind the Northern Senators Forum to come forward with a message that clears the air and reasserts that Nigeria is a diverse country with many different ethnic groups and religions.
“We must work together to build a united and prosperous nation. We must not allow ourselves to be divided along geo-political lines.
We understand that the Northern Senators Forum may have concerns about the allocation and distribution of resources in the 2024 budget, but these are concerns that can be addressed through dialogue and collaboration.” The Group appealed.
The Group further buttressed that provisions for amending the budget can be explored to address any identified concerns.
The Group said, “It is of note that the Leadership of both Houses of the National Assembly are evenly distributed across North and South. Membership of the two chambers is also distributed across the country, with the North having more seats than the South.
The Chairmen of Appropriation Committees for both Chambers of the Parliament come from the North and the South, which shows balance.
The budget was not passed by lawmakers from the South but by the plenaries of both houses, which had northern lawmakers actively contributing to debates and voting to pass the budget, castigating the process and the decision-making in the budget is an act of mischief.”.
On the executive, the Group said the Minister of Budget and Planning is from the North and prepared the budget document for the country and could not have allowed the projected spending to be skewed against the North.
The Group, therefore, called on Nigerians to continue to support President Bola Tinubu’s administration by ignoring mischiefmakers who were out to distract him.
