Budget-padding controversy: ACF knocks Senate for suspending Ningi

Pan-northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF), yesterday, condemned the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi over the alleged padding of the 2024 Budget to the tune of N3.7tn by the Senate. Ningi had, in an earlier interview, made the allegation that culminated in his three-month suspension for what the 10th Senate labelled an unfounded allegation. However, the pan-northern organisation noted with regret that rather than suspending the Senator representing Bauchi North, the red chamber should have allowed an independent investigation into the matter. The ACF, through its National Publicity Secretary,…

Read More

Amidst Budget controversy, Akpabio’s constituency gets N21bn projects

The Federal Government has persisted in its trend of lopsided financial allocations in the annual budget, contrary to the intended purpose of even wealth distribution. Investigations by this newspaper reveal that certain institutions and senatorial districts, with influential representatives in both the National Assembly and Executive arms of government, manipulate the national budget to their advantage. An analysis of the 2024 national budget has exposed disparities, with some senatorial districts receiving as low as N6-7 billion, while others, such as Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District, home to Senate President, Godswill…

Read More

Yar’adua emerges chairman of Northern Senators’ Forum

Senator Abdul-Aziz Yar’Adua (APC-Katsina) has emerged as chairman, Northern Senators’ Forum (NSF). Yar’Adua emerged after a meeting of the group in Abuja on Thursday. He takes over from Sen. Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi), who resigned from the position after his suspension by the Senate over his allegations that the 2024 Budget was padded. Yar’Adua, who is chairman Senate committee on Army, in his acceptance speech, expressed gratitude to his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him. “I express gratitude to my colleagues for the confidence reposed in me following the resignation…

Read More

Akpabio: CNG lambast Sen. Bamidele over alleged profiling of Northern Senators

The North-East Chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), said it has observed with shock, that a ranking senator, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, allegedly stooped so low to profile northern senators, and by implication, the northern people for planning to stage what he described as “a civilian coup” against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. CNG, in an issued statement by its Zonal Coordinator, Isah Abubakar Waziri in Abuja yesterday, said Senator Bamidele descended further to portray northerners as unreliable who are hell-bent on removing Akpabio as the President of the…

Read More

Alleged Budget-padding: “Step down immediately”, PDP tells Akpabio

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked Senate President Godswill Akpabio to “immediately step aside” and allow for an independent investigation into the allegation that the 2024 appropriation act was padded by N3 trillion. Recall that at the weekend, Senator representing Bauchi-central, Abdul Ningi, stirred controversy when he alleged that the 2024 Budget was padded by N3 trillion, and that the country is operating two Budgets concurrently. On Tuesday, the allegation was debated at the “committee of the whole” of the red chamber, amid a rowdy session. Subsequently, the senator…

Read More

Constituency Projects: “Each senator got N200m; but presiding officers received more” – Ndume

Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, Ali Ndume, has said each senator was allocated N200 million for constituency projects in the 2024 Budget. Over the past few days, controversy has ensued over the 2024 budget, amid allegations of padding and project insertions. Recall that last Saturday, Abdul Ningi, who is the Senator representing Bauchi-Central, stirred controversy when he alleged that the budget was padded with the sum of N3 trillion by the Senate. Speaking in an interview during a television programme on Wednesday, Ndume said 10 senators, who are leaders, including…

Read More

FG to spend N178.9bn on Tinubu’s Strategic Agenda

The Federal Government has unveiled plans to allocate N178.9 billion over the next five years, to attain President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda.  This financial commitment, channelled through the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, (FMSDIGA), addresses eight priority areas outlined in the agenda. Presenting the Executive Summary of the ‘FMSDIGA Strategic Plan 2024-2028’ in Abuja, the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Zephaniah Jisalo, highlighted the ministry’s pivotal role in advancing President Tinubu’s developmental objectives and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025. Among its mandates,…

Read More

Alleged Budget-padding: CISLAC tackles Senate over Ningi’s suspension

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria), yesterday, condemned the Senate’s resolution to suspend Senator Abdul Ningi over the allegation on the N3 trillion alleged budget padding in the 2024 Appropriation Act. The CISLAC Executive Director, Comrade Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, who expressed the concern via a statement titled: ‘Senator Ningi: CISLAC expresses worries over attacks on freedom of expression, oppositions’ rights and independence,’ warned against abuse of the rule of law. He said: “The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria) is…

Read More

N500m Palliatives scandal rocks Senate

The Senate has been thrown into a rowdy session following revelation of uneven distribution of Federal Government’s palliatives to senators for onward disbursement to their constituents.   The Red Chamber was debating the allegation by Senator Abdul Ningi, the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum during an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service. Ningi had claimed that a whopping N3.7 trillion was padded in the 2024 Budget, causing an uproar among his fellow senators and sparking intense debates. The session degenerated further, when Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe revealed that…

Read More

“Suspending Ningi without investigation amounts to cover-up, legislative cowardice” – HURIWA

Civil Rights Advocacy group, HURIWA, has described the suspension order slammed on Senator Abdul Ningi as a coordinated cover-up and legislative blackmail aimed at smashing the weighty allegations of budget padding raised by the Bauchi State-born lawmaker. Recall that Senator Abdul Ningi had insisted that about N3 trillion of the N28 trillion 2024 Budget had no subhead suggesting that the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate may have padded the Budget. HURIWA insisted that the suspension of Senator Ningi was hasty and will inevitably be interpreted as a ploy by National Assembly cover…

Read More