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Daniel Bwala, a legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, served as spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party presidential campaign council in the 2023 general election. In this interview with, he shares his thoughts on the budget padding scandal rocking the national assembly and other issues of national interest.
They also have the power to add for themselves because their budget is done by the executive. If they feel the amount budgeted for them is not sufficient, they can add to it. It has always been a cooperation from both arms of government. Where the problem comes is if, for example, there is underlying money kept somewhere but does not have a definition of the intended project or location.
If Ningi made those arguments while he was in the national assembly plenary session, he is covered by immunity. So, generally, the issue with budget padding is that you have to define what padding is. If it is a padded budget that is hidden and you cannot peg it to a project or location, that is where it raises concern because it means somebody is trying to steal the money.
At the time the budget was passed, the naira-to-dollar rate was far lower. What that means is that the value of the budget has now been reduced by inflation. The person to whom you allocated N500 million at the time you passed the budget, right now, may just get a value of N300 million from the money because the value of money has dropped. With all this ‘big money’ you are hearing, you will discover that it is nothing to write home about at the time of execution.
TheCable: There were reports that you recently made a tweet urging President Bola Tinubu to sack the CBN governor. Don’t you think this sends a negative signal and will further negatively impact the economy?I never said President Tinubu should fire the CBN governor. I was quite surprised when I heard reports that I said he should be fired. My tweet is still on my X page. I said President Tinubu has a reform agenda and that the CBN governor should carry it out to the letter.
He keeps saying he is the new opposition leader in Nigeria. He thinks opposition is trolling, and that is why people call him the social media president. Trolling is not opposition. While he is trying to copy the model of Donald Trump, he falls short of even the extremist policies of Trump. While Trump controls his base, Obi is controlled by Obidients. If Trump asks his supporters to move, they move.
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