PDP to Akpabio: Step aside over alleged budget padding, N108bn Akwa Ibom fund

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

In a statement released by Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary, the main opposition party also demanded that Akpabio immediately report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the pending case related to N108 billion belonging to the people of Akwa Ibom State, allegedly looted under his watch as the governor.

The party similarly told the Senate President to speak out on the reported N86 billion contract scam that allegedly occurred in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during his tenure as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

The PDP condemned the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the Senate “without a detailed inquest into the issue of budget padding which he raised.”

Recall that Ningi blew the whistle on the alleged unexplained N3.7 trillion inserted into the budget, leading to his suspension from the chamber for allegedly disparaging the legislature.

 

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

“Moreover, the frustration of investigation by the APC Senate leadership further confirms PDP’s repeated alert that prominent APC officials in the National Assembly and a top official in the Presidency have been using ministers and other government functionaries to siphon budgeted funds from the national coffers.

“We ask, why did the APC leadership in the Senate not refer the matter to the appropriate Senate Standing Committee for an open investigation in line with the extant Rules of the Senate? What is the APC Senate leadership afraid of and what is it hiding from Nigerians?

“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.

“This is especially as the issues at hand heavily border on alleged gross misconduct and criminal betrayal of public trust, which are serious offenses under our laws.

“Nigerians can now see why the APC leadership in the National Assembly, especially in the Senate, continues to condone the unbridled looting of public resources, including funds meant for palliatives for poor and vulnerable citizens.

“This apparent inclination towards covering up sleaze in the polity is already pitting the institution of the Senate against Nigerians who are demanding answers on the matter. Of course, the widely condemned suspension of Senator Ningi does not provide answers to the budget padding allegation.

“It is indeed unfortunate and a huge smear on the image of the Senate, as the highest lawmaking and probity Institution in the country, that its Presiding Officer has found himself in a quagmire of alleged sleaze and betrayal of public trust.

“Our Party, therefore, stands with Senator Ningi for his courage in seeking probity and accountability in the polity.

“What Nigerians expect at this moment is for the Senate President to come clean by stepping aside, allowing for an independent investigation into the budget padding allegation as well as clearing his name at the EFCC over alleged looting of N108 billion and N86 billion under his watch as Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs respectively.”