The Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, has called for an immediate, independent and comprehensive forensic audit of the 2024 Budget.
The acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mohammed Ishaq, in a statement, noted that the process is to uncover any instance of corruption, misappropriation, mismanagement and unfairness between constituencies.
According to him, the audit should be conducted by a reputable and neutral third-party organization, with the findings made public to promote transparency and accountability in the country.
The statement said, “PRP advocates for a complete overhaul of the Nigerian budgetary system which includes the implementation of strict guidelines to prevent undue influence on budgetary allocations, the establishment of a centralized database for tracking all budgetary processes, and the introduction of stringent penalties for any violation of these guidelines.
The party strongly called for stoppage of constituency projects, believing that they have seen that it is prone to abuse, corruption and unfairness on how constituencies in the federation are being treated.
The statement noted that ”All legislatures at sub National and National levels, should be thoroughly trained on budgetary system driven by needs, fairness”
On Whistle Blowing, PRP said it found the action of the Senate President and the entire Senate not only morally wrong but legally offensive, stressing that Senate President Akpabio, who was accused by Senator Ningi of wrongdoing, sat as a judge and a witness in the proceedings that culminated into the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi.
It added that Akpabio presided over the proceedings in which Ningi was tried, convicted and sentenced, lamenting that one cannot be a judge in his own case, as Ningi has the full protection of chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of Nigerian as Amended particularly sections 36(1) and 39(1) of the Constitution and should have been given a fair hearing.
“In our view, you can begin the corruption fight of your administration by dealing with all the wrongs identified in the budget and correcting them,” the statement said.