Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, has tackled Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, over his statement on the alleged padding of the 2024 Appropriation Act.

Onanuga told Obi to stop jumping into matters in the public space without first of all confirming their authenticity.

“There was no padding. My advice: don’t always jump into a matter in public space without first of all confirming its authenticity,” he wrote under a tweet by Obi on the alleged padding of the 2024 budget.

recalls that Obi had earlier decried the lack of transparency in managing public funds over the matter, stressing that it’s a breach of trust.

The statement followed the claim by Senator Abdul Ningi alleging that projects worth N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act are not traceable.

Ningi, who is the Chairman of Northern Senators’ Forum, had alleged that the National Assembly debated and passed N25 trillion as 2024 budget and not the N28.7 trillion that is being implemented by the Federal Government.

He made the allegation while speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service.

The senator also accused the President Bola Tinubu administration of not being fair to all sections of the country in the implementation of the budget.

Reacting to Ningi’s allegations, Obi said it was deeply disconcerting and a matter of grave concern and even shameful to read about the alleged N3 trillion discrepancy between the budget approved by the Nigerian Senate and the one being implemented by the presidency.

Obi said it’s worrying because the amount involved represents over 10 per cent of the national budget.

According to him, Nigerians deserve full accountability of all the scarce resources placed in public trust.

“Therefore, we, the Nigerian people, demand a public explanation from both the National Assembly and the Presidency regarding the purpose and process of adding this alleged N3 trillion,” Obi said.

The Presidency had in a statement on Sunday, said the claim by Senator Ningi was “false and there is no truth whatsoever in the allegation”.