The Senate has suspended Bauchi Senator, Abdul Ningi, over his BBC Hausa interview where he alleged some discrepancies in the 2024 budget.
Recall that, on Monday, Ningi noted that the National Assembly padded the 2024 budget with a whooping sum of N3tn.
At a press conference on Monday in Abuja, the lawmaker said he never said that the president was running two budgets but that there was N3.7tn yet to be accounted for.
Earlier before his suspension on Tuesday, Ningi said, “I have never said somebody was blinded. Secondly, I have never said the budget was padded.
After a long debate during the plenary, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim from Ondo State rose to add a prayer after the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, had read three prayers in the motion.
Akpabio had read that based on section 1b of the Senate standing order, the Senate is urged “to take appropriate action on the matter,” a motion was unanimously taken.
The second prayer was for the Senate to “take steps to correct the wrong impression from Abdul Ningi’s interview,” and thirdly, “Take any further decision as the Senate deemed fit to protect the 2024 budget.”
Senator Ibrahim while contributing to the motion said, “Ningi should be suspended for an initial period of 12 months” including stopping his benefits and privileges while senator Sumaila Kawu, Kano State senator, should be warned to stop posting anything negative against the Senate on account of his social media posts.
However, the Senate president, Akpabio said, “senator Ningi, you have been suspended from the Senate for the period of three months.”
