The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has said that the upper chamber will soon review Senator Abdul Ningi’s three months suspension.
The suspension was imposed on him over claims the N28.78 trillion 2024 budget was padded to the tune of N3.7 trillion.
Akpabio said this on his return to Nigeria after a seven-day trip to Geneva, Switzerland for the 148th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Although Akpabio said he is yet to see any letter from Senator Ningi, he expressed the hope that the Bauchi State lawmaker will soon return to legislative business as the matter will be treated as a family one.
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The suspended representative of Bauchi Central Senatorial District was said to have written to Akpabio and the Senate leadership, through his lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), demanding that the suspension placed on him be lifted.
Falana stressed that if his suspension is not lifted in the next seven days, he will drag the Senate before the Federal High Court.
He argued that apart from violating Ningi’s fundamental right to fair hearing, the Senate also violated the right of the people of the Bauchi Central Senatorial District to representation in the Senate for three months.
He further stated that the suspension of his client is a breach of Section 111 of the Constitution and Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act.
Falana stated in the letter that the Senate president acted as the accuser, prosecutor and judge in the case, adding that this was in utter violation of the provisions of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
The Senate, on March 12, 2024, suspended Senator Ningi for three months over a media interview with the BBC Hausa Service, alleging that N3 trillion in the 2024 budget was not traceable to any project and location.
The suspension also led to the resignation of the Bauchi State-born lawmaker from his position as Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum.
He was immediately replaced by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, the representative of Katsina Central Senatorial District.