I support Ningi; the Bauchi government says that in favor of the suspended lawmaker

Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, has stated that he fully supports Senator Abdul Ningi, who was given a three-month suspension by the Senate on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Ningi, the legislator for Bauchi Central, was placed under suspension.

In addition, he gave up his post as Northern Senators’ Forum Chairman.

After arguing in a BBC interview that the National Assembly had inflated the budget for 2024 by N28.7 trillion, Ningi was suspended.

Ningi asserted in the Friday interview that the 2024 budget did not allot N3.7 trillion to particular projects.

He declared, “Today, we are running two different budgets for the first time in Nigerian history.” President Bola Tinubu signed a budget that was authorized by the National Assembly, and the presidency carried out the other.

“The Federal Government operates one for ₦28tn, while the one we approved is N25tn.”

“Apparently, we discovered N3tn was inserted into the budget for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”

Moreover, the senator repeated the charge at a news conference on Monday and stated that he had no fear of being suspended.

Nonetheless, the governor of Bauchi State stated that he supported the lawmaker.

On Monday, Mohammed posted on his official X account, “In today’s State Executive Council meeting, I made it clear that I stand firm in our support for Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, of Bauchi Central.”

He continued, saying, “I emphasized the significance of maintaining dissent in our political environment without turning to punitive measures.

“I am committed to examining Senator Ningi’s situation further. It is common knowledge that Senator Ningi is one of the best performing senators whose heritage and uprightness, ancestry and integrity are worthy of praise.”

Ningi’s allegations that the Senate’s 2024 budget was padded were refuted by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele of Ekiti Central, who referred to it as a “civilian coup.”

The move to suspend Ningi for a year was started by Senate Appropriations Committee member Jimoh Ibrahim in response to claims that he had spread false information and violated peace in the National Assembly and throughout the nation.

Senators Asuquo Ekpenyong and Abdulfatai Buhari, on the other side, suggested changes to Ibrahim’s motion.

While Buhari from Oyo North requested three months, Ekpenyong, who represents the Cross River South Senatorial District, urged decreasing the sentence to six months.

Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, called Ningi’s offenses “grievous.”

A voice vote was held, and Ningi’s three-month suspension was approved by most of the lawmakers.