Budget Padding: Akpabio Bows To Pressure, Says Ningi Will Rejoin Senate In A Few Days

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has announced that the Red Chamber will soon lift the suspension on Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central).

This is coming 24 hours after the lawmaker wrote to Akpabio, threatening to take legal action if his suspension is not lifted within 7 days.

Ningi was suspended following his BBC Hausa interview in which he alleged that the budget for the 2024 fiscal year was padded to the tune of N3.7 trillion.

After a heated debate by Senators on the floor during plenary on the matter, Ningi was suspended for three months and asked to write a letter of apology to the Senate.

But in a letter written by his counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), Ningi accused Akpabio of being the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in the case which he said is in utter violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

In the letter titled; ‘Request To Lift The Suspension Of Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi,’ dated Wednesday, March 27, 2024, Senator Ningi threatened to seek legal redress.

The Senator accused Akpabio of causing him to be put on trial before the Senate on March 14, 2024 “contrary” to the provisions of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2018.

But answering questions from newsmen on Friday on arrival from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Akpabio said the Senate will soon review the three-month suspension.

He said, “It is a parliamentary decision. I have not seen the letter yet. But Senator Ningi is one of us. I mean what is suspension? I believe that in a few days, he will join us. So, there is no problem. It would be resolved amicably. The Senate is a family.”

Daily Trust had reported that Ningi’s suspension would not last three months.

A top member of the National Assembly had told this newspaper that the issue was being resolved amicably.

There have been pressure on the senate to revisit its action deemed unfair in some quarters.