Following the outcry that trailed the recent comments attributed to the Senator representing Bauchi Central in the National Assembly, Senator Abdul Ningi that the 2024 Budget was padded by N3tr, the embattled Senator has backtracked.
In a chat with Senate correspondents on Monday, Ningi denied saying that the nation is operating two budgets nor that the Budget was anti-north but maintained that what N3 trillion was budgeted for in the 2024 budget was not yet known.
“At no time did I say Bola Ahmed Tinubu is implementing two budgets. At no time did I say Bola Tinubu is biased against the North, the Hausa version is there. At no time did I say Bola Tinubu is implementing a 25 trillion budget.
“I said we have established without reasonable doubt about 25 trillion so far as a nexus in the budget. That means there is money, and then there is a project and then there is location. Money, project, location, but we are yet to ascertain three trillion of that budget.
“We have established three trillion in the budget; we have not established its location and place. I don’t want any nonsense Senator to come here; if it is a cross, I will have to carry it, I will carry it.
“I am not afraid of anything; I believe in one God and I believe power is transient; I am not scared of any issues like suspension. I have been out of the Senate for 8 years and people had to force me back,” he said.
To further tighten the noose on Ningi, Senators from 19 Northern states have distanced themselves from the claims he made.
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The Northern senators affirmed their loyalty to President Bola Tinubu.
The lawmakers made their stance known in a statement signed by Senators Iyal Abbas from Adamawa, Ibrahim Bomoi from Yobe, Abdullahi Yar’ Adua, and four others.
In the statement, the Senators insisted that they are not in agreement with Ningi’s remark.
The statement read: “We, the undersigned on behalf of the Senators from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum (NSF), hereby state that Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, Bauchi Central), who also happens to be the chairman of our forum, was on his own in the claims he made on the BBC Hausa Service on the 2024 budget.
“As such, the view he expressed was his personal opinion, sentiment and unfortunately skewed, incorrect and misleading.
“There was never a time where we held a meeting and mandated Senator Ningi to address the press on the said matter.
“The budget was presented to the National Assembly during a joint session of the two chambers – Senate and House of Representatives – by President Bola Tinubu on November 29, 2023, in line with the requirement of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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“Both chambers of the National Assembly diligently and meticulously debated, processed and passed the proposal of the President. And satisfied with it, the President assented to it.
“It is clear that Mr President presented a budget of N27. 5 trillion to the National Assembly and the Assembly passed a budget of N28.7 trillion based on the need to make increases or decreases in the appropriations of the various MDAs, which is in tandem with the legislative powers of the National Assembly in order to address critical projects and services across various sectors.
“Therefore, the statement made by Senator Ningi that the 2024 budget presented to the National Assembly by Mr President was the sum of N25 trillion was not correct and that should not be taken as the position of the Northern Senators Forum.
“To the best of our knowledge, there was no budget padding whatsoever that was done to the 2024 budget.
“The assertion by Senator Ningi that certain things were done to the bill is his personal opinion. It is not the view of the generality of us, the Northern Senators.
“Hence, we strongly and collectively dissociate ourselves from his action which was grossly unparliamentary.
“That, we, the Northern Senators, are solidly behind President Bola Tinubu and we will continue to support him to succeed in addressing the challenges facing our country.
“Nigeria, at this particular moment, does not need ethnic sentiments but collaborations of all to bring prosperity to our beloved country, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We will continue to work with our brothers and sisters from the southern part of the country to move our country forward for the benefit of all and sundry.”
Meanwhile, a lawmaker from Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim, has asked the Federal Government to charge Senator Ningi to court for criminal misinformation and breach of peace in the National Assembly and the country by extension.
In a chat with Senate correspondents on Monday, Ibrahim urged the Senate and the Federal Government to “as a matter of urgency, charge Senator Ningi for criminal misinformation, and conduct likely to breach the peace of the country”.
“If the Senate will not do that within the next seven days, I will write a letter to the Inspector General of Police to investigate the circumstances leading to the approval of two 2024 Appropriation Acts and bring the culprits to book.
“It is not true that we have two Appropriations. Senator Ningi must be charged to court for conduct likely to cause breach of peace and criminal misinformation,” Ibrahim stated.
