‘Budget padding’: Akpabio has done nothing wrong to step down, APC replies PDP

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says Senate President Godswill Akpabio has done nothing wrong to step down from his position.

The ruling party is reacting to a call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  asking Akpabio to step down over an allegation by Abdul Ningi, Bauchi lawmaker, that the 2024 budget was padded by N3 trillion.

Ningi stirred controversy when he claimed that a huge damage was done to the north through the 2024 budget.

Subsequently, the upper legislative chamber suspended him from the senate for three months.

In a statement on Friday, Felix Morka, spokesperson of APC, said the opposition party is quick to “feast on shame” without verifying facts.

“It is eerily comical that the PDP, a party with a sordid legacy of monumental corruption would suggest that the President of the Senate should turn himself to anti-graft agencies for investigation,” the statement reads.

“This is the entity that turned graft and corruption to statecraft, the same entity that cannot account for funds raised for the building of its own national headquarters, making such a ridiculous call. The PDP should lead by example and heed its own call.

“The legislative authority of the Senate includes the authority to make its own rules and adopt its own procedures for discharging its constitutional mandate.

“That extends to modifying its rules and standing orders in accordance with its rules and procedures, and in observance of all applicable legal and constitutional standards.

“It also has the authority to discipline its members in accordance with its institutional and constitutional due process.

“The President of the Senate has done nothing wrong to warrant him stepping aside on account of this or any other disclosed matter.”

The APC spokesperson added that the PDP should quit being a “meddlesome interloper”.