Lawmakers demanded ₦200m bribe during budget defence — Ex-Buhari’s minister

Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has alleged that members of the National Assembly demanded a ₦200 million bribe from him during his first budget defence, claiming he was sidelined from subsequent budget sessions after refusing to comply.

Dalung made the allegation in a statement reflecting on his time in office, describing the incident as one of his earliest encounters with what he called the institutionalisation of corruption within public institutions.

According to him, after presenting the ministry’s budget, lawmakers allegedly demanded that he raise ₦200 million, a request he said had no basis in the ministry’s approved appropriation.

“I looked through the budget documents before me and replied that I had not seen any budget line titled ‘bribe.’ I told the committee that since no such provision existed in the ministry’s appropriation, I had no idea where they expected me to obtain ₦200 million,” he said.

Dalung alleged that the committee ended the session after his refusal and informed him that discussions would continue with the ministry’s Permanent Secretary.

“They simply told me, ‘Okay, Mr. Minister, you are excused. We will take it up with the Permanent Secretary,'” he recalled.

He further claimed that following the incident, his participation in subsequent budget defence sessions was reduced to presenting the broad highlights of the ministry’s proposals before being asked to leave while detailed discussions continued behind closed doors.

According to Dalung, he later discovered that the practice was widespread, alleging that some ministers, particularly those considered close to the Presidency, routinely met such demands to ensure the smooth passage of their budgets.

He said the experience exposed what he described as a deeply entrenched system in which legislative oversight had been turned into an avenue for extortion.

Dalung argued that when oversight responsibilities are compromised by illicit financial interests, accountability weakens, public resources are diverted and governance institutions lose credibility.

He added that many corruption scandals in public institutions thrive because oversight mechanisms meant to serve as checks and balances have themselves become compromised.

The allegations have not been independently verified, and the National Assembly had yet to respond to the claims as of the time of filing this report.