The Nigerian Senate has suspended Senator Abdul Ninji due to an allegation of padding in the 2024 budget.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s led Senate suspended Ninji, a Senator representing Bauchi Central district, for three months after a long and stormy session in the red chamber.
Initially, Jimoh Ibrahim, a member of the Appropriation Committee, moved to suspend Ninji for 12 months over an allegation of criminal misinformation and breach of peace in the National Assembly and the country by extension.
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However, Senator Asuoquo Ekpenong, representing Cross River South district, moved an appeal to reduce the suspension, which was eventually reduced to three months.
Ninji’s problem
Abdul Ninji had raised an alarm that N3.7tn was padded in the 2024 budget, leading to the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party to call for a thorough investigation.
Ninji also lost confidence in the people he attempted to fight for when some northern senators disowned the claims, claiming Ninji did not speak for them.
On Monday, Ninji’s position remained firm. He maintained that N3.7tn could not be accounted for in the 2024 budget.
While these were ongoing, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who later called for his suspension, called for Ninji’s arrest on the grounds of breach of the peace at the National Assembly.
He said, “For the first time in Nigerian history, we are operating two different budgets. One was approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu, and the other was implemented by the Presidency.
“The one approved by us is N25tn while the one being operated by the Federal Government is N28.7tn
.
“Apparently, we discovered N3tn was inserted into the budgets for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”
“We resolved as the peoples’ representatives to see President Tinubu on this issue, with facts and figures, to ask him if he is aware of this embarrassment or not, and then from there, we will take action.
“Let Nigerians be patient with us. This is a national issue; it affects all Nigerians irrespective of party, tribe or religion.”
On Saturday night, The Senate’s spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), told Punch Newspaper that “there was no padding whatsoever in the budget.”
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