CNG flay senate leader over comments on Ningi’s action

The North-East Chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has chided Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, for alleging that Senator Abdul Ningi is propagating an impeachment agenda against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, despite the Northern Senators Forum not being in support of it.

Bamidele, representing Ekiti Central, on Tuesday, maintained that what Ningi did was tantamount to a failed civilian coup, adding that he only wanted to use the Northern senators’ forum to push his agenda.

The Senate leader further said the attempt to take over the Senate’s leadership beyond June 13, 2023, must stop.

Senator Ningi had, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (Hausa Service) on Saturday, alleged that N3.7tn was untraceable in the budget.

However, Bamidele, while reacting, alleged that Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District, attempted to unseat the senate president by allegedly inciting the Northern Senators’ Forum which he led against Akpabio, a southern senator, who took over from Ahmad Lawan.

He said: “What my big brother, distinguished Senator Abdul Ningi, whom I respect so well, planned to do or set out to do was tantamount to a civilian coup which has failed. And in doing this, he wanted to use the platform of the Northern Senators’ Forum. God bless all those who have dissociated themselves from the Northern Senators’ Forum.”

Weighing in, the North East chapter of CNG, in a statement by Isah Abubakar Waziri, its
Zonal Coordinator, condemned Bamidele for his utterances.

The statement read in part: “We observed with rather a shock, that a ranking senator, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, stooped so low to profiling northern senators and by implication, the northern people for planning to stage what he described as ‘a civilian coup’. Senator Bamidele descended further to portray northerners as unreliable who are hell-bent on removing Godswill Akpabio as the President of the 10th Senate.

“It is imperative to educate Bamidele that the North he is insulting gave the highest and most decisive number of votes to the incumbent President Bola Tinubu just as the northern senators who constitute the majority facilitated the emergence of Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, it is important to unravel this dangerous rhetoric woven around our differences by a senator through provoking sectional sentimental calculation over and above the priority of collective and cohesive struggle to enshrine accountability and transparency in the Senate.

“Let it be vivid to Bamidele that the Northern lawmakers always make robust legislative engagements irrespective of who is superintending the National Assembly which is why for example Abdulmumini Jibrin challenged Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Sen. Ali Ndume confronted Sen. Bukola Saraki with allegations, yet, it was only the issues that were dissected and debated.

“It is necessary to deploy every plausible means to disabuse the ilk of Bamidele from such narrow political conjecture that can only gain currency in a situation that stifles democratic etiquette.”