The Senate has pardoned and recalled Bauchi Central Senator, Abdul Ahmed Ningi.
Ningi was suspended for three months on last March for accusing the upper legislative chamber of budget padding.
The recall process was initiated after a motion moved by Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), who expressed regret on behalf of the suspended senator.
He pledged to assume full responsibility for Ningi’s actions, acknowledging the gravity of the suspension.
The senator’s conduct during the period of suspension has been a matter of scrutiny and debate within the legislative body.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio emphasised Ningi’s resourcefulness and described him as a valued member of the Senate, adding that the decision to recall him transcends religious and ethnic divides.
Ningi was recalled some two weeks to the end of his three-month suspension, which is supposed to terminate on 12 June.
On 12 March, the Senate suspended Ningi over allegations of N3.7 trillion padding of the 2024 budget.
Ningi, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was suspended for three months after a long stormy session in the red chamber.
Akpabio, who had described Ningi’s offences as “grievous”, conducted a voice vote during which most of the lawmakers voted in support of their colleague’s suspension for three months.
In an interview in March, Ningi had claimed that the Federal Government was operating two versions of the 2024 budget and that the N28.7 trillion budget passed and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu was skewed against the North.
Many senators and the Presidency pounced on Ningi, describing his claims as “far-fetched and unbecoming of a leader of his status”.
Ningi, would later deny saying that the country was operating two budgets but insisted that only N25 trillion of the budget was tied to projects while N3.7 trillion had no project tied to it.
