Politics
HUMAN Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described as a coordinated cover-up the suspension order slammed on the Bauchi state Senator Abdul Ningi by the Godswill Akpabio led Senate over his allegations that the 2025 budget is padded with over N3Trillion by the Senate under Godswill Akpabio.
HURIWA said the suspension was hasty and will inevitably be interpreted as a negative sign that the National Assembly that ought to be the bastion of civil democracy is being turned into a secret society since the Senators failed to conduct a publicly advertised probe of the damaging allegations made by the Bauchi state born senator Abdul Ningi. HURIWA condemned the Senators for behaving like political thugs and for being indecorous during the session leading to the suspension of Senator Ningi.
HURIWA recalled that the Senate was in a rowdy session on Tuesday as the lawmakers demanded answers from their colleague, Abdul Ningi, over his claims about the 2024 budget.
Senator Ningi had accused the National Assembly of padding the 2024 budget, claiming the country was running two appropriation acts with one passed by the lawmakers.
During an interview with the BBC Hausa service, Senator Ningi alleged that the president ran two budgets with N3.7tn yet to be accounted for.
Irked by the comment, the Senate during plenary on Tuesday, demanded answers from Senator Ningi over his remarks.
Before the plenary, an angry Senator Olamileken Adeola had demanded an open session.
“No closed door, let’s do it open,” the Ogun West lawmaker said.
When the plenary began, Senator Adeola moved a motion for that matter to be investigated.
While seconding the motion, Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas (Delta South) criticised Ningi’s comments.
The member of the appropriation committee said the remark was “not only presumptuous, but it is also scandalous and an attempt to incite the public against the National Assembly”.
He said the matter must be investigated to “save the integrity of the Senate and my integrity because all eyes are on us”.
Senator Adamu Aliero, however, told Akpabio to ensure a fair hearing on the matter by letting Ningi tell his side of the story.
In his response, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said, “Nigerians are bashing the Senate. Many Nigerians will never in future come back to respect this chamber. The integrity of this chamber has been damaged and we wanted you to repair it with your speech.
“Instead of that, you said you have more documents to prove what you are saying. This thing is in the public glare. I have not received full details up to this moment. If you had given me full details, I would have been able to know what you know.
“So far, what you know is only known to you, it is not known to any other person. I don’t know how you rushed to the press carrying different versions. The social media is very fast. From Canada, the United States, everywhere, the story was budget padding by the Senate.”
When it was Senator Ningi’s turn, he told the lawmakers he never said that the 2024 budget was padded, describing the translation of the interview as “fake”.
“I have never said somebody was blinded. Secondly, I have never said the budget was padded,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator told his colleagues.
“Let me concur with about 80 per cent of the translation read out by Senator Yayi. I think they have done a fair job, except on some issues they could not understand.
“The beginning of this brouhaha started with this text. Senator Abdu Ningi is purported to be the author of this document. Let me for the avoidance of doubt, I have never made this statement to anybody anywhere and anytime.
“I want members of this Senate to record it, this is a fake observation that was forwarded, I do not know the author of this.”
HURIWA said the hasty suspension of the originator of such a huge body of allegations against the Senate regarding the padding of the budget is simply an act of legislative cowardice orchestrated by the Senate’s hierarchy so as to conceal the whole truth from the members of the public.
HURIWA said: “The Senate ought to have set up a committee to investigate the allegations and allow the members of the Nigerian public to follow up the process so as to get to the very roots of it with a view to ascertaining the veracity or otherwise of such an extensively damaging allegations. But instead, the Senate used legislative blackmail, sledgehammer and threats to shut up Senator Abdul Ningi and we the people of Nigeria think that this is an attempt to hide the truth from us. This is unconstitutional and undemocratic.”
13th March, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Abdul Ningi Godswill Akpabio HURIWA
