Dalung: NASS members demanded N200m bribe during budget defence

Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development Solomon Dalung has alleged that National Assembly members demanded a N200 million bribe from him during his first budget defence under the Buhari administration.

Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has dropped a fresh bribery allegation against members of the National Assembly, claiming they demanded N200 million from him during his very first budget defence session while serving under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dalung made the allegation in a statement reflecting on his years in office, adding another layer to his growing list of revelations about the inner workings of government during his tenure.

According to Daily Trust, the former minister, who served between 2015 and 2019, did not provide further details in the excerpt on which specific lawmakers were involved or how the alleged demand was communicated. His statement, however, adds to a pattern of disclosures he has made in recent months about pressure and financial demands he says he faced while in office.

This is not the first time Dalung has gone public with allegations of this nature. He had previously disclosed that after losing his ministerial position, an individual claiming to be from the Presidential Villa approached him demanding N100 million in exchange for facilitating his return to office — an offer he said he rejected outright.

Dalung has increasingly positioned himself as a vocal critic of the political system he once operated within, using public statements to shed light on alleged corrupt practices tied to budget processes and political appointments during his time in government.

The National Assembly is yet to respond to the latest allegation.