👤 By Abdul Tukur

A senior lawmaker from Abia was arrested hours after he revealed that the budget office smuggled billions into the 2018 spending plan.

Eyinnaya Abaribe, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who represents Abia- South Senatorial District, was picked up by operatives of the Department of State Services on Friday from the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, after he accused the Executive of inserting 30 billion Naira into the power budget.

Senator Abaribe, 56, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, made the claim on Thursday when he said “the amount never passed through the senate power committee.”

He asked that the “budget office and other relevant bodies to conduct self-examination.”

“Such self-examination will go a long way to clear gray areas,” he said.

An aide to the lawmaker confirmed his arrest, but DENISAURUS News is still not certain as to why the 65-year-old, who stood in as a surety for Nnamdi Kanu, has been detained.