A spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Alwan Hassan, has alleged that some ministers pay billions of naira to secure appointments and subsequently seek to recover the money after assuming office.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Hassan argued that Tinubu’s direct involvement in spending decisions was preferable to entrusting ministers with control over government funds, citing what he described as a longstanding problem of corruption among public officials.
The discussion followed questions about how the Federal Government intended to finance its budget amid concerns over revenue shortfalls and whether approving budgets without sufficient funds to implement them undermined the purpose of the exercise.
Responding, Hassan questioned the need to give ministers control over budgetary allocations, arguing that Tinubu had personally undertaken responsibilities ordinarily expected to be discharged through the budgetary process.
“Whatever it is a budget is supposed to do in this country in the last three and a half years, Asiwaju (President Bola Tinubu) has done it by himself. Why do we need ministers? Why do we need budget to be given to ministers?” he asked.
When the presenter suggested that the administration was deliberately approving budgets without adequately funding them, Hassan defended the president’s direct supervision of government expenditure.
“The way Asiwaju is hands-on on the expenditure of our revenue is fantastic, and I love it,” he said.
Hassan subsequently alleged that some ministers spent huge sums of money to secure appointments and entered government with the intention of recovering their investments.
“A lot of ministers pay billions and billions, and you know, to get themselves appointed. The first thing they think of is how to recoup that money,” he said.
He did not identify any of the ministers allegedly involved in the practice or provide details of the payments during the interview.
Hassan also argued that corruption among ministers was not peculiar to the ruling APC, claiming that officials occupying such positions had repeatedly featured in corruption-related cases under successive administrations.
“The biggest fraudulent people you arrest after every government are ministers,” he said.
The allegations, however, were not accompanied by specific evidence during the interview to substantiate the claim that some ministers paid billions of naira to secure their appointments.
(Daily Trust)
