Budget Padding: You can’t suspend me- Ningi dares Senate President

Suspended Bauchi Central senator, Abdul Ningi, has written to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, demanding his reinstatement.

Mr Ningi conveyed the letter through his lawyer, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

According to the letter, Mr Ningi gave a seven-day ultimatum to the senate leadership to reinstate him or risk legal action.

The lawmaker had claimed that he sought the services of a private auditor to review the budget and discovered some projects that did not have locations.

PREMIUM TIMES has reviewed the claims of Mr Ningi and found them to be true.

This newspaper reviewed the proposed 2024 budget, the approved budget and Mr Ningi’s document which he uses as a reference and discovered several projects worth billions of naira without specific locations and a proper description.

In the letter addressed to the Senate leadership, Mr Ningi maintained that his suspension was illegal because the Nigerian parliament does not possess the power to “suspend or expel a legislator and confiscate his salaries and allowances.”