The Senate has suspended Senator Abdul Ningi for three (3) Months over his unfounded allegation that the 2024 budget was padded by N3.7trillion.
Ningi’s suspension was pronounced by the Senate President at the plenary on Tuesday after a motion was raised by Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West) that the false allegation by Ningi be addressed.
Ningi who is the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Population, while speaking on BBC Hausa Service recently alleged that the National Assembly debated and passed N25 Trillion as the 2024 budget and not the N28.7 Trillion being implemented by the Federal Government.
In a swift reaction, the Presidency denied the allegation, noting that President Tinubu on November 29, 2023, presented a budget of N27.5 Trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly made up of N9.92 Trillion recurrent expenditure, Debt Service of N8.25 Trillion, and Capital Expenditure N8.7 Trillion.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said, the President did not present a budget of N25 Trillion.
He explained that contrary to the strange view expressed by Senator Ningi, there was no way the Senate could have debated and passed an N25 Trillion budget that was not presented to the National Assembly.
He further explained that that what President Tinubu signed into law on January 1, 2024, as passed by the National Assembly was N28.7 Trillion.
He said, “the National Assembly, in its wisdom, increased the amount proposed by the Executive by N1.2 Trillion. In the spirit of democracy which allows give and take, President Tinubu didn’t withhold his assent to the Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly.
“We want to stress that if the budget figure was increased and made to be different from what the Executive proposed, it was the National Assembly that jacked it up in exercise of its power of appropriation”, he noted.
However, Ningi insisted on his earlier claims that N3.7trillion was padded into the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
In a twist, Senators from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the umbrella of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), dissociated themselves from the comments made by Senator Ningi on the 2024 budget.
The forum stated that Ningi expressed “his personal opinion, sentiment and unfortunately skewed, incorrect and misleading.”
Meanwhile, at the plenary today, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim moved for the suspension of Ningi for 12 months.
Senator Chris Ekpeyong (Akwa-Ibom North-West, PDP) opposed this by moving a motion of amendment that the suspension be reduced to six months, and it was seconded.
Another senator, Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), however, made further amendment, asking that Ningi be suspended for three months.
After putting the amended motion to a voice vote, Akpabio ruled, “Senator Ningi is hereby suspended from the Senate for three months.”
