Ningi: Minority Leader: Senate Already Experiencing Some Credibility Issues

Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro stated on Wednesday that the upper chamber is experiencing credibility issues, following Senator Abdul Ningi’s suspension.

Ningi claimed in an interview with BBC Hausa that the Senate added N3.7 trillion to the 2024 budget. He went on to say that President Bola Tinubu’s N28.7 trillion budget was biassed against the North and that there are two budget plans for 2024 running through the federal government.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Red Chamber were compelled to suspend Senator Abdul Ningi on Tuesday due to the circumstances.

Benue South National Assembly Senator Moro stated the upper chamber is now facing an integrity test the day following the incident.

The relevant budget was approved by the Senate. Former Appropriations Committee member Senator Ningi is now a senator. He claimed to be speaking on behalf of the north, while he himself was from the north.

The reason I was enraged is that the Northern Senators Forum’s spokesperson, Senator Kawu Sumaila, had already told the press that he would be addressing the same issue during the discussion just before I spoke.

“I told you not to do it. You brought up some concerns, and we are working to address them. Now look at you. If you feel the need to speak to the media, by all means, do so. Being a member of the NNPP, Senator Kawu Sumaila is integral to my role as minority leader and gave his blessing for me to do so, which is why I raised my hands in protest.

I don’t see why he would reject my counsel. The Senate is currently facing credibility issues, as others have pointed out. For what reason would a person think he or she can speak and know everything?

The Senate leadership did the right thing in Ningi’s situation, according to Moro, who supported their stance.

Being a member of the Senate, I believe they made the right decision. The 10th Senate may finally put an end to budget padding, which has been the basis for criticism of past budgets.

However, no senator has ever publicly admitted that they were incorrect and smeared the blame on everyone else before me; this senator was fully involved in the entire process. In my opinion, that is incorrect.

Recalling how Ningi and Kawu had an audience with the Senate President as members of the Northern Senators Forum, he criticised Ningi’s behaviour.

Tragically, Akpabio said, Ningi’s accusations have utterly tarnished the Senate’s credibility, and the upper chamber has become a laughingstock as Nigerians mock the legislature.

Both the first interview and the subsequent one in which Ningi supposedly provided justification for his prior accusation of budget padding were criticised by Akpabio.

“The Senate is being attacked by Nigerians. There are a lot of Nigerians who will never return to this chamber with any respect. This chamber’s credibility has been utterly undermined, and we were hoping that your speech would restore it,” he stated during Tuesday’s plenary.

Rather than that, you claimed to have further documents to back up your claims. People are paying attention to this. As of right now, I do not have all the information. I could have learned all you know if you had just told me everything.

So far, no one else knows anything about what you know; you know it all by yourself. How you managed to rush to the press with multiple versions is beyond me. The speed of social media is incredible. The story went around the world, from Canada to the US, and everyone thought the Senate was trying to inflate its budget.

“I can cite an article from the Premium Times that stated, ‘At N28 trillion, we have achieved the greatest degree of budget padding in Nigeria’s history, surpassing even the N25 trillion budget.”