The Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has disclosed that he got more than the N200m allocation his colleagues and floor members got for constituency projects in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
Ndume noted this during Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday, March 13, stating that, “My colleagues know that I go more than them (floor members).
Ndume was responding to allegations by Senator Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe from Cross River North that some senators got the total of N500 million each from the 2024 Budget for constituency projects.
Agom-Jarigbe had on Tuesday, during a story session in Abuja, made the startling disclosure while the lawmakers debated budget padding claims by Senator Abdul Ningi from Bauchi Central Senatorial District.
Ningi had claimed that N3.7trn was not tied to any project in the 2024 N28.7trn budget and he was suspended for three months.
Asked whether the claim by Agom-Jarigbe was true, Ndume said, “It’s disparity now, we are not the same; all animals are equal but some are more equal than the other. That’s what the case is. They have agreed to that.
“All the senators have N200m (each) as their constituency projects but I am a leader. That is the difference. 10 of us are leaders including those in the opposition. We get more than the floor members. It’s normal.
“That decision is taken by the senators. We have the senate budget committee before but now the floor members entrusted that to the presiding officers. That’s the difference. So, most the senators don’t know what I get and I will not tell you.”
