Ningi’s Suspension: Musa Yar’Adua Emerges As Chairman Of Northern Senators’

Ningi’s Suspension: Musa Yar’Adua Emerges As Chairman Of Northern Senators’

By Aisha Musa

Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central, had on Tuesday, blamed his resignation on unfolding events in the National Assembly, the north, and the nation at large.

Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua on Thursday emerged as the new chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum after the resignation of Senator Abdul Ningi.

Senator Yar’Adua, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, represents Katsina Central at the Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber.

His appointment as the forum’s new chair is coming two days after the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi by the Senate following his accusation of the chamber of padding the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7trillion.

Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central, had on Tuesday, blamed his resignation on unfolding events in the National Assembly, the north, and the nation at large.

Meanwhile, the forum has also appointed Senator Tahir Mungono representing Borno North as its spokesperson to replace Senator Sumaila Kawu.

Kawu was warned by the Senate to stop sharing posts capable of causing unrest in the country, following his earlier reported cases.

SaharaReporters had reported that the budget padding revelation of Senator Ningi raised dust across sections of the country with various groups calling for the resignation of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President.

SaharaReporters also reported that the last might just not have been heard about the alleged padding of the 2024 budget by the 10th National Assembly in Nigeria (NASS).

The Senator Godswill Akpabio-led NASS approved a total of N8,447,887,443,379 for capital projects of 20 federal ministries in the 2024 Appropriation Act.

The select ministries are Youths, Sports, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Special Duties, Budget and Economic Planning, Tourism, Justice and Petroleum Resources.

Others are; Arts and Culture, Women’s Affairs, Education, Police Affairs, Communication and Digital Economy, Agriculture, Water Resources, Environment, Health, Solid Minerals and Works.

Surprisingly, N6,671,810,092,564 (out of the N8,447,887,443,379), representing approximately 71.98% of the total ‘Development Capital Allocation’, was “assigned to initiatives that are either elusive in terms of traceability or encumbered by significant accountability constraints.”