The senate on Tuesday (yesterday) suspended the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Mr Abdul Ningi, for three months for alleging that the 2024 budget was padded with N3 trillion.
The upper chamber also resolved that if Ningi could send an apology letter, the leadership of the senate would, thereafter, decide whether to lift the suspension or not.
The senate president, Mr Godswill Akpabio, announced the suspension of Mr Ningi after it was supported by a majority of senators during deliberation at the committee of the whole.
“Senator Ningi is hereby suspended for three months from all activities relating to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Akpabio said.
The resolution of the upper chamber was a sequel to a point of order raised by the chairman of the senate committee on appropriations, Mr Adeola Olamilekan, during the plenary.
Ningi, the chairperson of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), recently told BBC Hausa that the lawmakers sought the service of a private auditor and discovered irregularities in the budget.
“Example, we had a budget of N28 trillion but after our thorough checks, we found out that it was a budget of N25 trillion. How and where did we get the additional N3 trillion from, what are we spending it for?”Ningi told the BBC Hausa.
Raising the point of order, Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West) said his privilege as a senator and chair of the joint Appropriation Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which scrutinised the budget, had been breached as a result of the budget padding allegation levelled against the 10th Assembly.
He, therefore, urged his colleagues to intervene in the budget padding scandal to allow the public to understand the truth about the process of budget approval.
“I have come up with this order this morning because my privilege has been breached and because I am one of those who participated in the preparation of the budget.
“As chairman of the Appropriation (committee) and for what has transpired in the last few days, my privilege has been breached.
“My privilege has been breached and I focused on the part that affects me and not the whole interview. It is on that premise that I come up in the Senate to protect me,” he said.
Olamilekan explained that the Presidency proposed a total of N27.5 trillion budget but after a series of deliberations, the lawmakers agreed to increase the budget to N28.77 trillion which was unanimously approved last December.
He said his colleagues resolved to increase the budget with N1.2 trillion due to the request for additional funding for some items of expenditure which were not included in the bill to address issues in Judiciary, Agriculture and Food Security, Works, Science and Technology, Education, Water Resources, National Assembly, Health and National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
He added that the benchmark of naira to the dollar was another reason members of the appropriation committee decided to increase the budget with an additional N1.2 trillion.
He said, “Notes that following the presentation of the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N27.5 trillion by the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to the Joint Sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday 29th November 2023, and following the debates of the general principles of the bill at Second Reading from Thursday 30th November to Friday 1st December 2023, the bill was committed to the Committee on Appropriations for further legislative action;
“Also Notes that to attain the January-December Budget Cycle, sub-committees submitted their harmonised reports to the Committee on Appropriation and the report of the Committee on Appropriation submitted to the Senate was unanimously passed on Saturday 30th December, 2023 and a Budget of N28.77 Trillion was assented by the President C in C on the 1st January, 2024; As shown in the table below;
“Aware that the additional increase of N1.2 Trillion to what was presented by the President came during the appropriation process through additional funding requests and some items of expenditure to the Committee that were not included in the bill as submitted by the President and were meant to address additional funding for the Judiciary, Agriculture and Food Security, Works, Science and Technology, Education, Water Resources, National Assembly, Health and National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
“Also aware that the additional source of funding for the increase came from the increase in the benchmark of naira to dollar from N750-N800, increase in Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) revenue and other sources.”
Olamilekan submitted to the Senate a voice recording documented in a flash drive and a transcript of the interview granted by Mr Ningi to the BBC.
The Ogun senator, thereafter, read the transcript of the interview Mr Ningi granted with BBC Hausa on the floor of the Senate.
Olamilekan said he is disturbed by the budget padding allegation which has been generating issues among members of the public.
Demands
He therefore called on members of the Senate to take immediate action on the allegation to save the integrity of the Nigerian Senate.
“Pursuant to Order 1(b) of the Senate Standing Order 2023 (as Amended) allow immediate deliberation of this matter and take appropriate action deemed fit in the overriding public interest and as a matter of urgent public importance to prevent break down of law and order;
“Take further necessary steps to correct the wrong impression in public domain of 2024 budget created by the BBC interview and other national media houses and social media platforms by Senator Abdul Ningi and amplified by Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu through his Facebook account and other social media platforms; and
“Take any further decision as the Senate deem fit and proper to safeguard the integrity of the 2024 budget which is pivotal to the revamping of our economy” he argued.
Mr Joel Ewomazino (APC, Delta) seconded Mr Olamilekan’s point of order.
Ewomazino said the allegation against the Senate is scandalous and an attempt to incite the public against members of the National Assembly and the Presidency.
“Speaking without fact-checking is worrisome. I am a member of the appropriation committee, and what we passed was N28 trillion.
“This assertion must be promptly investigated to save the integrity of the Senate and my integrity because all eyes are on us,” he said.
Minority Whip, Mr Oyewunmi Olalere, urged the Senate to grant a fair hearing to Mr Ningi.
Mr Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central) also pleaded with the Senate to grant Mr Ningi a fair hearing.
“Fair hearing is a fundamental human right enshrined in our constitution. It will be fair to give him time to defend himself,” Aliero said.
Ningi’s defence
At this point, the senate president asked Mr Ningi to speak.
Responding to the transcript, Mr Ningi said he never told any media organisation that the budget was padded.
“Let me concur with about 80 per cent of the translation read out by Yayi. I have never said the budget was padded.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I have never issued a statement of this nature to anybody. This is a fake contribution that was forwarded. Having listened to the transcription, have you discovered this position?” he asked.
Ningi insisted that there was an array of repetition of some senatorial districts in the budgetary allocation for constituency projects.
“We discovered an array of anomalies of repetition. We discovered repetition of senatorial districts. Some senatorial districts have billions and my own senatorial district has just N2 billion, some N120 billion, some N50 billion, some N30 billion and some have less than N1 billion,” he added.
Senators speak
Many of the senators who contributed to the issue backed the call for the Senate to take appropriate measures against Mr Ningi for the allegation.
Mr Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) and chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance also condemned the allegation against the Senate.
He said he is disappointed with the manners his colleagues present themselves whenever they are discussing national issues.
“I am disappointed by the ways and manners we present ourselves to national discourse. I went to my constituency yesterday. I have gotten several calls from my colleagues, some I have not answered. Why are you not commenting?
“By parliamentary standards, we have the right to determine the budget. We have the right to determine the right to pass the budget. We have the right to determine the parameters of passing the budget.
“We have to deal with our legal ethical standards of the Senate,” Musa said.
Senate Leader, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, urged the Senate to sanction Mr Ningi for the allegation.
“We must never accept any apology from Senator Ningi. It is ridiculous to do so. He lied deliberately. Mr Senate President, you’re occupying that seat 40 years after a South-south person occupied it.
“The last time a Southerner was there was during Obasanjo and they were being changed every time. It was only stable when it returned to the North. David Mark spent eight years, Saraki completed his four years, and Lawan spent his four years. Don’t be deceived, the losers of the June 2023 Senate presidential election are still angry.
“Some have accepted but a few haven’t. They have plotted to remove you before June 2024. That is why you must not allow this deliberate mischief by Ningi to go away. He did it on purpose. He knew he was lying, he set the public against you, and he will do it again. We must apply our sanction,” Bamidele said.
The Senate President, thereafter, put the call to sanction Mr Ningi to vote and a majority of the senators supported it.
He subsequently announced the suspension of Mr Ningi for three months.
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