Ningi: ‘Akpabio Acting Anti-North Script’
A civil society organization, Arewa Defence League has alleged that the Senate leadership was acting an anti- North script in the recent suspension of Senator Ningi.
Addressing a press conference at Arewa House Kaduna Monday, the league said Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi is not new to politics. Having been elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 where he rose to become House Leader, then moved to the Senate and also rose to be Senate Leader. So, the art and act of Budget process is something he must have mastered.
According to them budget padding is no new to our system.as the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua once raised same eyebrows about 2018 budget and almost threatened not to sign it. “So, Senator Ningi did nothing new and wrong.” In the worlds of Murtala Abubakar, President of the League: “BudgiT came out with in-depth fact and figures, justifying Senator Ningi’s claim.
“BudgiT did not only vindicate Senator Ningi but gave a breakdown of finances of over 3 trillion naira in the passed and signed 2024 budget that have no outlined projects or programmes.
“While the suspension of Ningi may be viewed as internal issues of the National Assembly, the pronouncement of senators like Opeyemi Bamidele who tried to ethno-regionalise the issue by setting the North against the south, and Jimoh Ibrahim, a first time Senator leaves a lot to be desired as worrisome and myopic as they sounded.”
The organization alleged that the silence of the Northern Senators which seems to be a consent showed that they all have been compromised by Akpabio.
“The revelation by Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe that some ranking Senators got 500 million naira each in the budget was a pointer.
“The revelations thus far, that Akpabio got more than 21 billion Naira inserted into the budget as constituency project for himself alone is also a revealing pointer that Senator Ningi must have ruffled bad feathers.
“With all the woes of insecurity, banditry, kidnapping for ransom among several setbacks that the Northern Nigeria experiences today, the Northern Senators Forum should have been more concerned about a lopsided budget and use their number to influence more for the region.
“The recent killings of our gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Army in Delta State by armed criminal group readily comes to mind. While patriotic Nigerians condemned the barbaric act of the murderous group, Senator Godswill Akpabio was quick to defend the group, asserting that those who caried out the heinous crime were not from the Niger Delta but foreigners. Yet, one of the perpetrators confessed on a viral video to the act.
“This readily reminds one of the October 1st Eagle Square bombings. The then administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was quick to defend the Niger Delta militants; Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta MEND who were running amock. But Henry Orka came out to claim responsibility. Until South African Government picked him up and prosecuted him. The bloodletting continues unabated till date, especially in Northern Nigeria.”. The league alleged further that Akpabio was acting a script to the detriment of certain parts of Nigeria, though no one can tell whose script he was acting.
“Akpabio’s’ antecedents readily come to mind here. As the Minister of Niger Delta Ministry, the forensic investigation carried out revealed so much rot under him. Recall how the then Acting Managing Director of NDDC Mrs Joy Nunien exposed Akpabio’s hatred for the head of Legal unit; one Barrister Kaltungo simply because he was a northerner.
“As baffled as we are by these revelations, we call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to, like late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and former President Muhammadu Buhari speak out and distance himself from the Senate insertions and budget padding. “Northern Senators should also man-up by living up to the expectations of their constituents who are today IDPs in their own homes, daily facing more economic challenges and unprecedented insecurity that most can’t even venture to their farms and children afraid to go to school for the fear of kidnaping.
“If we fail to act fast, the suspension of Abdul Ahmed Ningi may be a kite flying act to test the ground for more grievous acts against the majority of Nigerians which may spell doom for Nigeria, ” the league alleged.
