BREAKING: Akpabio Told to Immediately Resign Amid Alleged Budget Padding Accusation, Details Emerge

• Nigeria's main opposition, PDP, has intensified pressure on the president of the senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, urging him to step aside amidst allegations of budget padding totalling N3.7 trillion in the 2024 budget
• Legit.ng reports that the call for Akpabio’s disengagement comes in the wake of the suspension of Bauchi Central Senator, Abdul Ningi, who raised an alarm over the alleged padded projects
• Ningi’s assertion, claiming the insertion of N3.7 trillion for purported non-existent projects, sparked a firestorm within the upper legislative chamber

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics and governance in Nigeria.

FCT, Abuja - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, immediately step aside and allow for an independent investigation into the allegation that N3.7 trillion was discreetly inserted into the 2024 budget for alleged non-existent projects.

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Budget padding: Senate reacts to calls for Akpabio’s resignation, “lies won’t distract us”

The PDP made its demand known in a statement on Wednesday night, March 14, by its spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, titled 'Step Aside, Akpabio'.

Recall that in an interview, Ningi had claimed that the federal government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget and that the N28.7 trillion budget passed and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu was skewed against the North.

Several senators and the presidency pounced on Ningi, describing his claims as “far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status”.

Ningi would later insist that only N25 trillion of the budget was tied to projects while N3.7 trillion had no project tied to it.

The embattled lawmaker subsequently resigned as the chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum (NSF), even as he was suspended by the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate in the red chamber for three months.

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Yar'Adua chairs Northern Senators' Forum after Ningi suspension

Reacting, the PDP said:

"The suspension of Senator Ningi is apparently a desperate move to suppress investigation, conceal and sweep the facts under the carpet."

It added:

"It is even more absurd that instead of recusing himself, the Senate President sat as a judge in the matter; a situation that has the capacity to bring the institution of the Senate to further public disrepute."

Read more about alleged budget padding:

• Pandemonium at Senate as pressure piles on Akpabio over Sen. Ningi’s budget padding claim
• Ningi vs Senate: “Democratic rascality”, SAN shares 2 points of ‘grave concern’
• Alleged budget padding: Akpabio, INEC chair told to resign as fresh protest looms

‘Largesse’: “I received N266m” Abaribe, Ndume speak

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, said contrary to the claim that some ranking senators received N500 million from the 2024 budget, he had only received N266 million.

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Shehu Sani exposes how lawmakers carry out budget padding

The revelation came on the heels of an ongoing controversy over an allegation of budget padding by Senator Ningi.

Source: Legit.ng