Budget Padding: Why Government Officials Should Be Arrested — HURIWA

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has stated why government officials who had a hand in the alleged insertion of N206,242,395,000 into the 2023 budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management should be arrested.

Reports of the alleged budget was a topic of conversation on Monday and HURIWA has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to apprehend those responsible.

Speaking in a statement, HURIWA National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, rejected the finance ministry's explanation that the bogus amount was wrongly captured in the budget estimates submitted to the National Assembly.

“Corruption in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet is mindboggling and the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission are overlooking these spectacular crimes.

"This, sadly, is the greatest cause of insecurity because a corrupt government is even a threat to national security.

“HURIWA demands actions by way of arrests and prosecution of officials who padded the budget because they are economic saboteurs.

"Anything short of this is aiding and abetting corruption", the statement reads.