Femi Oyelola, Kaduna.
A Northern group under the auspices of the Arewa Defense League (ADL,) has expressed dismay over the reaction of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio to Senator Abdul Ningi’s suspension.
In a statement signed by the President of ADL, Murtala Abubakar, the group noted that Senator Ningi did nothing new and wrong, especially after his justification by BUDGETit.
He, however, stated that the silent treatment by the Senate President and the Northern Senators Forum is not commendable.
The statement further states that Senator Ningi could not have made a mistake, since he is not new to politics and must have mastered the art and act of the Budget process.
He added that while the suspension of Ningi may be viewed as an internal issue of the National Assembly, the pronouncement of senators like Opeyemi Bamidele who tried to ethno-regionalise the issue by setting the North against the South, and Jimoh Ibrahim, a first-time Senator leaves a lot to be desired as worrisome and myopic as they sounded.
The ADL President opined that it is an act of injustice that cannot be overlooked and should be addressed to avoid further confusion and conflict.
He therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the issue as soon as possible.
He also asked that Senator Akpabio should and must see himself as a National figure by at least the virtue of being the chairman of the National Assembly as the President of the Senate and take necessary actions to curtail the issue.
“Senator Godswill Akpabio was picked as Commissioner by Governor Victor Attah in 1999 and retained till 2007 before becoming Governor between 2007 and 2015. He should, as an executive member know the act of budget-making.
“Budget padding is not new to our system. The phrase became added to the Nigerian political lexicon under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari when the Senate inserted certain things which the president then said were not implementable. Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua also raised some eyebrows about the 2018 budget and almost threatened not to sign it.
“So, Senator Ningi did nothing new and wrong. A few days after his suspension which was speedily carried with a lot of parliamentary illogic, BudgetiT came out with in-depth facts and figures, justifying Senator Ningi’s claim.
“BudgetiT not only vindicated Senator Ningi but also gave a breakdown of finances over 3 trillion naira in the passed and signed 2024 budget that has no outlined projects or programmes.
“The silence of the Northern Senators which seems to be a consent; a body chaired by Senator Ningi is also unnerving. Have they all been bought over by Akpabio?
“The revelation by Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe that some ranking Senators got 500 million naira each in the budget is a pointer.”
