Nigeria, Dec. 6 -- The Nigerian Senate has grilled Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance over budget padding allegation.

Mrs Ahmed was initially summoned by the lawmakers to explain insertions into the 2023 budgetary allocations of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

She was summoned after the heads of the affected MDAs could not provide the explanations for the insertions in their projects. Most of them expressed ignorance of the allocations and said the finance ministry was in a better position to explain.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Senate Committee on Special Duties on 21 November, discovered N206 billion in the 2023 budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

The Mi...