ome days ago there was a budget padding controversy in the Upper House of the National Assembly, which is also known as the Senate or the Red Chamber. Two days after the controversy I met my friend popularly called Paddy. I gave him extraordinary attention by loudly calling him, "Paddy Padding!" He shouted, "Back to sender! God forbid! Please withdraw that word Padding. My name is Paddy; not Padding." I said, "But they are the same and sound alike." He objected. I asked him the difference between the two names? He clearly stated, "Paddy is a Saint while Padding is a demon." I exclaimed, "What! I am really confused." This led me into the world of vocabulary.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (New Edition) gives two definitions of padding: 1. "soft material used to fill or cover something to make it softer or more comfortable." Thus we have padded seat, padded kneeler, padded table, etc. Women often pad their dresses especially at the shoulder. It happened some time ago in a commercial bus. A certain lady passenger with padded shoulder dress was siting close to an elderly man in the bus. Along the way, the elderly man fell asleep and rested his head on the padded shoulder dress of the lady. When he started snoring, the lady pushed him away. Unconsciously he shouted, "My pillow, what is wrong?! Please allow me to enjoy my mobile sleep!" The passengers were thrown into uncontrollable laughter. The sleeper woke up and asked, "Where am I?" One of the passengers answered, "Oga, you are in a padded country." The man asked, "What do you mean by padded country? I have never heard of this since I was born." The passenger in question replied, "Go home and ask your wife. She has many padded dresses." A second round of laughter broke out among the passengers. The driver looked back and shouted, "Gentlemen, please allow me to concentrate on the steering before you are padded into the grave." Immediately there was absolute silence. Death is a real silencer.

The second definition of padding by the above dictionary is: "unnecessary words that are added to make a sentence, speech, etc." Ambiguity in use of words is a sort of padding. Some women pad the list of items to buy in the market in order to extort money from their husbands. Some cooks are also guilty of this. A certain stingy man goes to market to price things before he approves any market list from his wife. Dishonest drivers pad the receipts of vehicle repair before they present it to the vehicle owner. If you are working with anyone, he or she often pads monetary requests. Contractors pad the list of work to be done in a specified area in order to enrich their pockets. Even some men of God pad the list of items of work to be done or have been done in the church. I witnessed a lot of padding by traders and customers when I was assisting my father in his business in Jos in those old days. Some customers from companies would request for the padding of the receipt with extra money which went into their private pockets. Sometimes the sellers and buyers share the padded money. Dishonest traders allowed the padding in order to make huge sales. Students and pupils are also guilty of padding when they request money from parents or guardians. Some women pad their breasts and buttocks to look more attractive. If God does not temper justice with mercy, then heaven will be empty. We are living in a society of insincerity.

The Oxford Dictionary defines padding as "superfluous material in a book, speech, etc., introduced in order to make it reach a desired length." The Dictionary.com likewise defines it as "something added unnecessarily or dishonestly." In those days of the white missionary apostolate in Nigeria, the use of interpreters was employed to preach to the unlettered local men and women. It happened that a certain catechist was interpreting a white priest's homily to the congregants. Whatever sentence he did not understand, he would tell the people that the priest was still saying the same thing. Hence all the dictionaries I consulted are still saying the same thing about padding. From all indications, padding is morally wrong. Falsehood is the foundation of padding.

Padding of budgets has been a frequent happening between the Executive and Legislative Arms of Nigeria government both at the National and State levels. The Federal Government presented the 2024 budget proposal to the National Assembly titled "Budget of Renewal Hope" showing a proposed expenditure of N27.5 trillion and an estimated revenue of N18.32 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. Whenever I hear of trillion, I end up in the world of imagination. I have heard of a million naira but have never touched it. Also I hear of a billion naira but have only seen it in my dream. I always check my blood pressure whenever trillion is spoken about. There are millionaires and billionaires. Scarcely do I hear of trillionaires. There was a poor man who was dreaming. In the dream, a popular millionaire was presenting to him the sum of one hundred thousand naira. As he was about to receive the money, his wife suddenly woke him up from sleep. He got up angrily and gave his wife two dirty slaps. The poor woman in pain and tears asked, "Papa Joe, what have I done?" The poor husband retorted, "For peace to reign in this family, you must send me back to the dream where I was about to receive a donation of a hundred thousand naira from a generous donor." The wife sharply said, "It seems you are suffering from malaria." This led to an early morning fight between the poor couple. Indeed poverty can be devastating.

The National Assembly passed the budget from N27.5 trillion as proposed by President Bola Tinubu to N28.7 trillion. It was later discovered that the 2024 budget was padded with 3.7 trillion naira bringing the total to N32.4 trillion. How and who did it? The Senators were wondering. Courageously Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central Senatorial district, accused some of his colleagues for the budget padding. He stated that the ranking senators received N500 million each. Who are those ranking senators? They are those who have spent a term or more in the Upper legislative House. Thus there are senators and there are senators. In the Book called Animal Farm by George O'Well, the pigs staged a successful coup and ousted the human managers from the farm. Consequently the pigs assumed authority over other animals in the farm. Initially they wrote: "All animals are equal." Later when greed took over rationality, the pigs led by Snowball changed the rule to "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others." At this the farm did not remain the same again. The pigs became more corrupt than the men they ousted. Applicably, the senators are equal, but some are more equal than others. Some allegedly received N200 million each. One of the senators confessed that he received N1 billion for his constituency project.

The allegation by Senator Ningi threw uproar in the Senate on that fateful day. The microphone was switched off to prevent the deaf from hearing what was going on. Hurriedly the Senators suspended Senator Ningi for three months. Humbly he packed his books, bowed and was escorted outside the chamber. Then the door was closed after him. Some accused him of not providing any evidence of the padding allegation. But the ultimate question is: Did he say the truth? The Bible says, "The truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). Some Nigerians are accusing the Senators of suspending Senator Ningi hurriedly without making investigation over his padding allegation. Governor Bala Muhammed of Bauchi State himself stated emphatically that Senator Ningi was suspended because of saying the truth. Was it ghosts that padded the budget? Hungry Nigerians are angry. God is watching.