Senate hits Senator Ningi with 3 months suspension for saying 2024 budget was padded

The senate on Tuesday decided to suspend Senator Abdul Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District, for a period of three months over his claims that the 2024 budget was padded with a whopping N3 trillion.

They also stated that if Ningi sends an apology letter, the Senate leadership will then consider whether to lift the suspension or not.

Senator Ningi

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the suspension of Mr Ningi after it was supported by a majority of senators during deliberation at the Committee of a Whole.

“Senator Ningi is hereby suspended for three months from all activities relating to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Mr Akpabio said.

The resolution of the upper chamber was sequel to a point of order raised by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Adeola Olamilekan, during the plenary.

Mr Ningi, the Chairman 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?” Mr Ningi told the BBC Hausa.