“All of us are culpable. Some so-called senior Senators here got N500 million each from the 2024 budget, I am a ranking Senator, I didn’t get anything. No Senator has a right to accuse Senator Ningi.”
• CSOs decry Ningi’s suspension, call for thorough investigation• Ningi resigns as Northern Senators forum chair
The Senate was immediately thrown into a rowdy session following the revelation of uneven distribution of the Federal Government’s palliatives to senators for onward disbursement to their constituents, a repeat of the rice palliatives from President Bola Tinubu to Senators for Christmas. After extensive deliberation lasting over three hours, Ibrahim moved a motion that Ningi be suspended for 12 months. Still, the motion was amended by Senator Asququo Ekpeyong that the punishment be reduced to six months. Senator Garba Maidoki then moved that Ningi be suspended for three months or that an apology be accepted if he wrote to the Senate within 24 hours. He was seconded by Senator Sani Musa , whose motion the Senate eventually adopted.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio with Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, walking into the Senate chamber, PHOTO: NAN “I stand to say that, what my big brother, distinguished Senator Ningi, who I respect so well, planned to do was tantamount to a civilian coup, which has failed,” Bamidele said.
Budget padding, which BudgIt said, “frequently encourages theft, fraud, and a corrupt culture” came to the public knowledge in 2017 while Yakubu Dogara was Speaker of the House of Representatives and Jibrin chaired the House Committee on Appropriation. Reacting to the drama at the Senate, Executive Director of Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education , Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said the current ‘drama’ does not portray Nigeria as a serious nation that is ready to address poverty.
Describing the current Senate President as worse compared to his predecessors, he observed that from the onset, the 2024 appropriation did not follow the normal traditional method of budget defence and scrutiny. “Akpabio is receiving instructions from the presidency without anyone raising concern or objection and that is why the 2024 budget went this way without members having details.
National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties , Peter Ameh, lampooned the Senate for its rash decision to suspend Ningi. Also, the chairman of Action Alliance , Kenneth Udeze, said the Senate should be cautious as Ningi’s allegation over budget padding should not be thrown away just like that.
Also, immediately after yesterday’s plenary, it was gathered that President Tinubu met behind closed doors with Akpabio and the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The First Lady, Mrs Remi Tinubu, has said that she wasn’t afraid of death, as she was more than 60 years old now.
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