Amidst swirling accusations and fiery debates within the hallowed halls of the Senate, Northern Groups, represented by the North-East chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), have delivered a damning indictment, asserting a loss of confidence in the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio, shrouded in what they term as “monumentally unprecedented corruption.”
In a scathing rebuke, Isah Abubakar Waziri, Zonal Coordinator of CNG, through a press statement released on Friday, condemned what they perceive as egregious corruption festering within the Senate, echoing concerns raised by Senator Abdul Ningi regarding alleged budget padding to the tune of N25 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year.
The controversy deepened as Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele exchanged verbal volleys with Senator Ningi, accusing him of orchestrating an impeachment agenda against Akpabio.
Bamidele’s remarks, dismissed by CNG as divisive and ethnic-charged, ignited further tensions within the Senate corridors.
A part of the statement reads, “The North-East Chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), observed with keen interest the discussions that ensued in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly as a corollary to the allegations of budget padding in the 2024 Budget by Senator Abdul Ningi.
“Expectedly, the senators debated the issue in the Red Chamber as their tradition as a lawmaking body of the country and as an important institution of democratic governance.
“Unfortunately, we observed with rather a shock, that a ranking senator, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, stooped so low to profiling northern senators and by implication, the northern people for planning to stage what he described as “a civilian coup.”
CNG’s statement underscored the gravity of the situation, warning of dire consequences for the nation’s peace and security amidst such allegations.
They rebuked Bamidele’s purported regional biases, insinuating ulterior motives behind his inflammatory rhetoric.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, it is important to unravel this dangerous rhetoric woven around our differences by a senator through provoking sectional sentimental calculation over and above the priority of collective and cohesive struggle to enshrine accountability and transparency in the Senate.
“Let it be vivid to Bamidele that the Northern lawmakers always make robust legislative engagements irrespective of who is superintending the National Assembly which is why for example Abdulmumini Jibrin challenged Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Sen. Ali Ndume confronted Sen. Bukola Saraki with allegations, yet, it was only the issues that were dissected and debated.
“It is necessary to deploy every plausible means to disabuse the ilk of Bamidele from such narrow political conjecture that can only gain currency in a situation that stifles democratic etiquette, the group said.
Furthermore, CNG highlighted Senator Bamidele’s own implication in the alleged budgetary malfeasance, suggesting a vested interest in deflecting attention from deeper-rooted issues of corruption within the Senate leadership.
“It is clear, therefore, that Bamidele, as a majority leader of the senate, has some skeletons on his cupboard with the alleged budget padding that was why he resorted to ethnic-cum-regional chauvinism while commenting on the issue that he was talking as a “southerner”; reclining to his parochial and primordial enclave to prevent further exposition of his corruption and that of the senate leadership of which he is a part.
“Thus, we have lost confidence in the current leadership of the senate that is mired in monumentally unprecedented corruption which has never happened in any senate.
“A serving senator, inside the plenary session of the senate, Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe, disclosed that some senators were given a staggering 500 million naira while others were allocated 200 million naira in the 2024 Budget. This brazen and despicable abuse of office decimates the remainder of any pretence to abide by constitutional provisions and rules guiding the National Assembly.
“Similarly, a civil society organization, BudgIT, confirmed Senator Ningi’s allegations that N3.7trn could not be accounted for in the 2024 appropriation which Bamidele is depriving Nigerians of knowing the truth or interrogating facts and figures,” the group’s statement concluded.
With accusations flying and tensions mounting, the Senate finds itself engulfed in a maelstrom of controversy, as allegations of budgetary discrepancies and financial impropriety cast a dark shadow over its credibility and integrity.
