N424 budget padding allegation misleading – Minister

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Usman, has described as spurious budget padding allegations made against the ministry and the minister in one of the dailies (not The Nation).

A news report in the daily titled, ‘Finance Ministry On The Spot Over N424bn ‘Padding’ had implied that the ministry had cooked up budget figures for some ministries, departments and agencies for some line items in the 2023 budget.

However, in a statement issued last night by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, Special Adviser, Media and  Communications to the Minister of Finance, Budget and  National Planning and made available to our correspondent, the minister said there was no truth in the allegations, as such should be dismissed outright.

In the 21-paragraph statement titled: ‘Where The Allegation Goes Wrong In Project NSSNP-SU Budget,’ the minister acknowledged that the budget for ‘Project: National Social Safety Nets Project – Scale Up (NSSNP-SU) – N206,242,395,000’ was true, but every other statement insinuated in the report was mere fabrication and figment of the writer’s imaginations.

In the statement which reads in part, the minister said, “The story in a national daily alleging budget padding entitled ‘Finance Ministry on the spot over N424bn ‘padding’ is fabricated and misleading, because the said insertions allocated to the said items and sources in the budget proposal is also unfounded.

“We hereby wish to respond by putting the record straight: The project so referred to is domiciled in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development headquarters.

“The World Bank is the funding source for the National Social Safety Net-Scale Up project to the tune of $473,500,000 which is equivalent to N206,242,395,000, using the N435.57/USD exchange rate.

(Nation)