Budget Padding: Northern Senators blamed for not protecting Ningi from suspension

A northern youth group under the aegis of Arewa Defence League has frowned at the attitude of the Northern Senators who allegedly failed to protect Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi from suspension over the allegation of N3.7 trillion budget padding.

The group also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to distance himself from the Senate insertions and budget padding.

According to the group, the continued silence of the President will imply consent and will not be good for his government.

Murtala Abubakar, President of Arewa Defence League, who disclosed this at a news briefing held in Kaduna on Friday, said as the chairman of Northern Senators Forum, Ningi deserved his colleagues’ support, especially those from the north.

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He said the Northern Senators should live up to the expectations of their constituents who have become IDPs in their own homes, facing more economic challenges and unprecedented insecurity so much that most can’t go to their farms, and children are afraid to go to school for the fear of kidnapping.

He said with all the woes of insecurity, banditry, and kidnapping for ransom among several setbacks that Northern Nigeria experienced, the Northern Senators Forum should have been more concerned about a lopsided budget and use their number to influence more for the region.

“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, like Late President Umaru Yar’adua and former President Muhammadu Buhari, to speak out and distance himself from the Senate insertions and budget padding,” he said.

Murtala further explained that if Nigerians failed to act fast, the suspension of Ningi might be a kite-flying act to test the ground for more grievous acts against the majority of Nigerians, which may spell doom for Nigeria.