Yusuf Galambi, a member of the House of Representatives from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), representing Gwaram federal constituency of Jigawa State, has leveled accusations against President Bola Tinubu.
Galambi alleges that during the joint session of the National Assembly, Tinubu presented purportedly ’empty’ boxes containing the 2024 budget.
In an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Galambi claimed that although Tinubu outlined budget proposals for various sectors in his speech, he departed from the customary practice of providing lawmakers with physical documents.
During the interview with the BBC reporter, who noted that the president was seen placing a “document,” Galambi maintained that upon inspection, lawmakers found nothing in the boxes laid out by Tinubu.
“We’ve checked but there was nothing inside. We checked it. In the history of the National Assembly, this was the first time such a thing happened.
“The constitution has made it clear (that a document must be presented) but this time, it was only a reading on paper. They didn’t provide the document for us to go through and see what is proposed for each sector. Maybe they’ll bring it later,” Mr Galambi said.
Cover up
The lawmaker alleged that the leaders of the National Assembly are covering up Mr Tinubu’s act.
“They (leaders of the National Assembly) don’t want anyone to talk about it. Maybe they were not informed or were possibly aware of what was planned and they decided not to inform us,” he said.
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, said the allegation was aimed at misleading the public.
“It’s a nonsensical allegation aimed to mislead. The president is never expected to present the whole haul of heavy documents. What happened at the laying is like the presentation of dummy cheques at award ceremonies. The real thing always follows,” Mr Abdulaziz said in a WhatsApp message on Friday.
