On Tuesday, the Senate issued a stern warning to President Bola Tinubu regarding his potential illegal spending and strongly advised him to consider requesting a supplementary budget for his Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative.
Led by Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe, the Senate’s Committee on Gas urgently called upon the executive branch of government to promptly submit a 2023 Supplementary Budget to the National Assembly in order to initiate the Compressed Natural Gas project.
This request came just 48 hours after President Bola Tinubu unveiled measures aimed at mitigating the impact of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.
The lawmakers emphasized their commitment to upholding the law, which prohibits expenditures outside of the approved budget.
While commending Tinubu for his CNG initiative, the committee’s chairman cautioned against the unauthorized use of taxpayers’ money for this project and other endeavors in the gas value chain.
The senators also discouraged extra-budgetary spending through the “Ways and Means” approach, asserting their readiness to support and provide relief to the citizens.
Jarigbe praised Tinubu’s CNG revolution for powering vehicles, recognizing its potential to alleviate the citizens’ hardships.
He stressed the need for a supplementary budget to fund various aspects of the gas value chain, including CNG infrastructure and vehicles, as well as workshops and training for CNG adoption.
It was made clear that embarking on extra-budgetary expenditure would be contrary to the law.
Jarigbe expressed the National Assembly’s willingness, under the leadership of Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio, to support Tinubu’s ambitious programs.
He advocated for the appropriateness of a 2023 supplementary budget, as opposed to the contentious “Ways and Means” approach used by the previous administration in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In his Independence speech, President Tinubu reassured the nation that he was committed to alleviating the hardships faced by Nigerians.
He highlighted initiatives such as the deployment of cost-effective and safe CNG buses, which would lead to lower transport fares, as well as the establishment of training facilities and workshops to benefit transport operators and entrepreneurs across the country.
