Ahead of the plenary of the Senate on Tuesday, the lawmaker representing Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi, has finally been left in the lurch by his colleagues in the Northern Senators Forum, where he holds sway as Chairman.
Certain senators across the three geopolitical zones in the North disowned his claim on the inflation of the 2024 budget estimate on Monday and perceived Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s marginalisation of the North in the distribution of projects.
Even as the embattled former Deputy Senate Leader clarified on Monday at a media briefing that he did not speak as Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum in his controversial weekend interview with BBC Hausa Service, some of his colleagues issued a statement on Monday dismissing his observations as misleading and not on behalf of the Forum.
Those who signed the statement included Senators Iyal Abass and Ibrahim Bomoi from the North East. Others are Senators Abdul Aziz Yar’ Adua and Lawan Adamu Usman; from the north-west are the duo of Senators Jibrin Isah, Dikat Plang, and Saliu Mustapha from the north-central.
The lawmakers maintained, “Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bauchi Central Senatorial District, 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.”
The statement entitled, “There’s no wrongdoing in the 2024 budget; Northern Senators dissociate themselves from Senator Ningi’s padding allegation,” reads in part: “We, the undersigned, on behalf of the Senators from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the aegis of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), hereby state that Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bauchi Central Senatorial District, 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 and sentiment and was 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.
“That the budget was presented to the National Assembly during a joint session of the two chambers—the Senate and House of Representatives—by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November 29, 2023, in line with the requirements of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That both chambers of the National Assembly diligently and meticulously debated, processed, and passed the proposal of the President. And satisfied with it, the president agreed 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 Ahmed 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 kinds 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.”
