Politics

I also received N266 million from 2024 budget- Senator Abaribe says amid claims certain senators were given N500million

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2024

Senator Abaribe

The lawmaker representing the Abia South Senatorial District, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said that contrary to the claim that some ranking senators received N500 million from the 2024 budget, he only received N266 million.

Recall that the senator representing Cross River North, Agom Jarigbe on Tuesday, March 12, revealed that senior ranking senators had received N500 million each from the 2024 budget while he got nothing.

Lawmakers who have spent at least four years in the Senate are regarded as ranking senators.

Jarigbe made the revelation on the floor of the Senate while speaking on allegations of budget padding raised by the lawmaker representing Bauchi Central, Senator Abdul Ningi.

Ningi had earlier accused the Senate of padding the 2024 budget, saying the National Assembly added an extra N3.7 trillion to the initial budget.

Reacting to the allegation on Arise Television on Wednesday, March 13, Abaribe said Ningi knew it was a mistake to make a claim he could not prove.

Abaribe then denied receiving N500 million as alleged by Jarigbe. He added that despite being a senior senator, he only received N266 million.

Abaribe said: “Senator Ningi knew it was going to be a mistake. He knew. He’s a member of the Senate. He can’t say he didn’t know. He’s an old Senator. He has been in the Senate before. He knew that this wasn’t correct.

“I never got 500 million. I think Jarigbe tried to clarify his statement. He came back subsequently to say, ‘No, Ningi told me I was given’, because he didn’t get. He’s also a ranking Senator.

“So, I think that at the end of the day, what you see really is that…well, I’m an APGA Senator–the only APGA Senator in the Senate. Maybe being a minority of the minority, they didn’t consider me worthy of being given. Nobody told me about that money.

“I wanted to say that, without equivocation, that both Jarigbe and the Senate leader tried to clarify this issue. Number one: nobody was given 500 million. Even a few of my colleagues called me to say, ‘Ahh you get 500 million we dey beg you for money but you no wan give us one naira out of it.’ Can you imagine?”

Politics

Amaechi blames Tinubu for poor state of economy

Published

4 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has questioned the whereabouts of the savings from the fuel subsidy removal and naira floating policies under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Amaechi, who was a former Minister of Transportation under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, made this known during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.

According to him, the Nigerian economy is dying under Tinubu.

Amaechi noted that the purchasing power of Nigerians has been watered down by the Tinubu government.

“You are making savings from the fuel subsidy and floating the naira; where is the money?

“You get N16,000, for instance; in Buhari’s government, that will get you ten times as much, for instance, let’s assume, today, you get 120,000. You can only get four tyres. Which do you prefer?” he said.

Amaechi is part of the opposition coalition alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that moved to the African Democratic Congress on Wednesday.

Recall that in 2023, Tinubu’s administration announced the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira. Prices of goods and services in Nigeria skyrocketed because of the policies.

Meanwhile, Tinubu’s government has stressed that the cooling of inflation, which stood at 22.97 per cent in May, and the relative stability of the naira at the foreign exchange market (N1,525.83 per dollar as of Thursday) are indications that the country’s economy is on the right track.

In January 2023, before Buhari exited the seat of power, Nigeria’s headline inflation stood at 21.82 per cent, and the naira exchange rate to the dollar was around N745.

Politics

Rivers: I won’t disclose details of peace deal with Fubara – Wike

Published

8 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, says he will not reveal details of the recent truce brokered between him and suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

The minister however declared that peace has returned to Rivers State.

Wike made this declaration on Thursday during a media chat at his residence in Abuja. He said rather than disclose details of the peace deal, he would instead allow people to speculate.

“I will allow you to speculate, it’s not my business. All I know is that peace has come. If you are not satisfied with that, there is nothing we can do. What is important is that peace has returned, whatever thing anybody says is not my business,” he said.

Ekwutosblog recalls that President Bola Tinubu, last month, hosted a conciliatory meeting between Wike, Fubara and the suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, signaling a return to peace in the state.

The President suspended Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers Assembly in March 2025, after a heated and long-drawn political impasse in the oil-producing state.

Politics

‘This boy ran for president, didn’t get one vote’ – Wike slams Dele Momodu

Published

9 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has described Dele Momodu as a ‘boy’, saying he does not even know his name.

Wike spoke on Thursday during a media chat with some select media houses.

Wike said that he does not remember the name of Dele Momodu, one of the most popular journalists in the country.

Wike’s comment about Momodu may not be unconnected to the journalist’s criticism of his political antics.

Momodu, the publisher of Ovation International Magazine, recently claimed that Wike cannot defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC, because he will lose his authority.

In what appears as a response to the claim, Wike said, “There is this boy, they say he is a journalist. What’s his name? He is big.”

When a journalist said “Dele Momodu”.

Wike added, “Okay, I don’t remember all these names. He was never my friend. He ran for president, but he didn’t get one vote.”