The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for calling for the resignation of Senator Akpabio over claim of N3.7trn budget padding allegations by the suspended Senator Abdul Ningi.
Adaramodu in his reaction on Thursday, said “The PDP has elevated chicanery to statecraft and fatally failed in their sordid attempt to hoodwink the unsuspecting public, on the ineffectual but spurious allegations of budget padding.”
Adaramodu said “PDP’s ludicrous call for the resignation of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President is unthinkable and shows the party as a massaging balm for falsehood and immoral Legislative outbursts.”
He added that, “Akpabio will not resign and has no intention to resign at any time, because he has not committed any wrongdoing to warrant a resignation.”
He said it was shocking that the PDP leadership could not comprehend what transpired at Tuesday’s plenary, where the allegations were debated and Senator Abdul Ningi, who was given the ample opportunity to defend himself and prove the budget padding allegations was suspended after he failed to substantiate his claims in the full glare of the public.
“Contrary to the contention by the PDP that N3.7 trillion was discreetly inserted into the 2024 budget for alleged non-existent projects, and what transpired on the floor of the Chamber, it is open knowledge that no such absurdity is found in the budget passed by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The budget is being implemented judiciously by the Federal Government. Perhaps, the N3.7trn being mentioned in the PDP’s shocking statement exists only in the fickle minds of its purveyors and serves as a dubious version of the budget generated by PDP’s ‘unidentified political flying objects’.
Adaramodu said the Senate did not in any way violate the constitution or its standing Rules and Orders, in not referring the matter to a relevant committee but the decision to take the issue in the Committee of the Whole was for transparency and fairness.
Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade and Segun Awofadeji
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