The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has knocked the Senate over their recent suspension of a lawmaker, representing Bauchi Central in the National Assembly, Senator Abdul Ningi, from the red chamber.
Recall that Ningi, was suspended for three months during Tuesday’s plenary over allegations of padding the 2024 budget.
However, Obi, while reacting to the controversy, in a statement made available via his X page, on Wednesday, noted that the suspension of the Bauchi lawmaker, does not solve the issue surrounding the allegation.
The former Anambra State governor added that the Senate still owes Nigerians clarification over the various claims and counterclaims regarding the N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget.
The statement partly reads: “The fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget raised by a Senator still rages as the Senate’s reaction of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed vital issues emanating from the allegation.
READ MORE: Senate Suspends Ningi For Three Months Over Budget Padding Claim
“The Senator is insisting on his allegation, and the Executive agreed that there was only N1.2trillion padded, not N3trillion as alleged by the Senator. Fresh allegations have also cropped up over indiscriminate and unbalanced allocation of constituency projects by the Senate leadership.
“As the Senate suspension of the senator involved has not addressed the issue, they still owe the Nigerian public a clear clarification over the various claims and counterclaims, including that of the executive arm, to be able to know exactly what is happening, and also disclose to the public, the exact amounts allocated for constituency projects for appropriate monitoring of implementation by the public.
“The N1.2 trillion which the executive branch admitted to have been padded, if channeled into any of the critical areas of development, could have positively impacted the nation and uplifted the people.”
The fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget raised by a Senator still rages as the Senate’s reaction of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed vital issues emanating from the allegation.
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) March 13, 2024
