Admin I Tuesday, March 12, 2024
LAGOS, Nigeria – All Progressive Congress(APC) Senate Majority Leader, representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has agreed that some Senators received N500 million from the 2024 Budget appropriation.
The senator who spoke after Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe spilled the beans to the effect that some senior senators received N500 million from the 2024 Budget appropriation.
Jarigbe spoke even as most of the senators were calling for crucifixion of Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, who had allegedly vehemently that the 2024 budget appropriation was padded.
The senator had alleged that the budget passed by the National Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year is N25 trillion while the one being implemented by the Presidency is N28.7 trillion, a development that seemed to have infuriated the honourable senators, who made all efforts to stop Jarigbe from speaking during the plenary.
But instead of probing the allegation, the senators managing Nigerian resources opted to suspend him for three months with provision of recall if he appologises. But the senator has since resigned as Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum.
However, Opeyemi Bamidele, who served as Commissioner for Information and Strategy when President Bola Tinubu was Governor of Lagos chose to do the needful when he found out that Jarigbe’s expose’ has hit the media and was already trending online.
According to Opeyemi, Ningi was plotting a coup to overthrow the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
“The attempt to make sure that the leadership of this senate does not go beyond June 13 must stop. Sixty something senators voted for Akpabio, 40 something voted against him, the will of the majority”, he said adding that while some have put politics aside for unity of the Senate, others are bent on removing him.
“He said it is not about North and South but the constitution of Nigeria, it is about our people who are hungry. A few of the senators who feel you will not spend more than June 13th are doing all they can to take you out.
“The last time the people of south south had a chance to be Senate President was 40 years ago, the last time time the entire south had a chance was during Obasanjo when it went to South East, five people were elected but they were elected in quick succession, as soon as it went to the north we had peace and stability again because we will always cooperate, David Mark spent eight years, Senator Lawal spent four years, peaceful four years, Senator Saraki even with all he did spent four years, he was not impeached.
“Mr. President, I plead with you,… I beg all of you we must do the right thing. Senator Ningi took this to the public and stood here to apologise. I am not bothered, as this is going on it is trending now, that every senator got N500 million. My appeal to all Nigerians is not about what was said here today, because I am not going to deny that, let every Nigerian wait for the next 12 months and see whether we will not bring Solar Panel, water borehole project that is not worth N500 million”, he said.
