Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused President Bola Tinubu of unlawfully deducting N100 billion monthly from the federation account without legislative approval.
El-Rufai made the allegation while speaking during an interview on Prime Time, a programme aired on Arise Television.
According to him, the deductions, which he described as unconstitutional, have allegedly been ongoing for more than 15 months, amounting to about N1.5 trillion.
He argued that the withdrawals were made without appropriation by the National Assembly and state assemblies, despite the fact that part of the funds belongs to the states.
“Government data. I’m not quoting something out of the air,” El-Rufai said. “For that N100 billion that goes out every month from the federation account, without appropriation by the National Assembly, and without appropriation by the state assemblies, the entire deduction and expenditure is unconstitutional.”
The former governor described the development as an impeachable offence, questioning how such a large sum had been spent without visible improvement in national security.
“So where has that N1.5 trillion gone? What is it being used for? Why is the security situation just getting worse? Why is the government asking communities to protect themselves?” he asked.
El-Rufai also expressed disappointment with the current state of affairs, noting that the situation had deteriorated beyond what many anticipated during the 2022 and 2023 election campaigns.
“Look, if you asked me in 2022 or 2023 when we were campaigning that things would ever be this bad, I would say that you are mentally ill,” he added.
As of the time of filing this report, the Presidency has yet to respond to the allegations.
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