Budget Padding Controversy: ACF Kicks against Ningi’s Suspension

*Action is democratic, but despotic and tyrannical, says senior lawyer

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna

The pan-northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday condemned the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi over the alleged padding of the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7 trillion by the Senate.
 This is as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Jubril Samuel Okutekpa, said the suspension was democratic but smacked of despotism and tyranny.
Ningi had in an earlier interview with the BBC made the allegations that culminated in his three-month suspension for what the Senate labelled an unfounded allegation.

However, the pan-northern organisation noted with regret that rather than suspending the Senator representing Bauchi North, the red chamber should have allowed an independent investigation into the matter.
The ACF, through its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur-Baba, in a statement in Kaduna, said the process that culminated in Ningi’s suspension appeared rushed, “looking more on the messenger rather than his message.”
According to the forum, with the suspension of Ningi, who had served as the leader of the Northern Senators Forum, the interests of many communities in the region are at stake.

The ACF noted that rather than taking a rushed suspension of Ningi, it preferred a thorough investigation of the allegation by a statutory or ad hoc committee of the Senate.
The statement was titled, ‘ACF regrets suspension of Senator Ningi from 10th Senate, calls for more open debates on issues.’
It read in parts, “ACF does not wish to engage in debate with the Senate. Still, on the whole, the process appeared nimbly rushed, with concerns looking more at the messenger rather than his message.

“ACF notes that the allegation has since been denied by the 10th Senate as lacking in veracity. However, the interests of many communities in Northern Nigeria are at stake.
“Rather than the route of a rushed suspension of Senator Ningi, ACF prefers a thorough investigation of the allegation by some statutory or ad hoc committee of the Senate.
“ACF regrets that Bauchi Central will be without representation in the 10th Senate for three months, and stands with Senator Ningi and his supporters in whatever constitutional means they seek to respond for a satisfactory denouement to this sad development.
“ACF also calls on the 10th Senate to act with more circumspection and sensitivity in processing criticism of its operations. Robust debates on public policy issues undoubtedly strengthen the development of the democratic project.”

Meanwhile, a senior lawyer, Samuel Okutekpa (SAN), has said the suspension of the senator though democratic, smacks of despotism and tyranny.
In a statement on his X account, Okutekpa said:

“No one, it is also said can be the accuser, prosecutor, and judge at the same time. That is what the Senate and the Senate President have done in the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi. It is against the letter and the spirit of Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999”.
“In suspending Senator Abdul Ningi from the Senate for the next three months, the Senate relied on and invoked its powers under the Senate Rules to suspend the distinguished Senator. How the Senate suspended distinguished Senator Abdul Ningi raises fundamental constitutional questions of grave importance to constitutional democracy,” he stressed.

  “For me, what was on display at the suspension was democratic rascality not rooted in good conscience. It was a cover-up decision.”