Ali Ndume, shocked lawmakers at a closed-door session, when he told them the budget documents had been stolen, people familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr. Ndume, our sources said, explained that deliberation on the budget could therefore not begin until fresh copies of the documents were obtained from the presidency, the Ministry of Finance or that of national planning. The Chairman, Senate Committee of Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was subsequently mandated to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.
The Senators also resolved that the matter be kept under wraps, saying making it public could embarrass the presidency, the National Assembly and the country.
Our sources said senators of the Peoples Democratic Party accused the presidency of being behind the theft of the documents, an accusation rejected by their All Progressives Congress’ counterparts, who reportedly said it was too early to speculate.
Some lawmakers told PREMIUM TIMES they are suspicious that the presidency might have colluded with the management of the National Assembly to quietly withdraw the documents after detecting some discrepancies in them.
“Can you imagine this kind of national embarrassment?” one senator asked. “Documents that were presented to us with fanfare have been stolen.”The spokesperson for the senate, Aliyu Abdullahi,could not been reached for comments. So also is Mr. Goje, the chairman of the appropriation committee.
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