Tinubu Meets Akpabio, Jibrin After Senate Suspends Ningi Over Budget Padding Allegation

President Bola Tinubu met with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin at the State House in Abuja, following the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi by the Senate over his allegation of budget padding.

Senator Ningi, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, had claimed that President Tinubu was implementing a different 2024 budget from what was presented to the National Assembly.

The Senate, however, denied the allegations and suspended Ningi for three months.

During the meeting, President Tinubu was briefed by Akpabio on the details of Ningi’s suspension and the controversy it had generated.

The meeting came at a time when the Senate faced another accusation of malfeasance, with Senator Agom Jarigbe alleging that some ranking senators recently received N500 million as an intervention from the executive, while others, including himself, did not.

Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, denied Jarigbe’s claim, stating that no senator received N500 million as a palliative.

In a related development, the Senate, in a 2020 appeal court ruling, upheld the decision of a State High Court, which nullified the indefinite suspension of Akinribido by the Ondo State House of Assembly.

The court ruled that the Assembly acted arbitrarily by exceeding its power and could only suspend for one day’s plenary sitting.