BREAKING: Akpabio Finally Lands in Court, Details Emerge

Godswill Akpabio, the president of the senate, has been dragged to court by SERAP over his failure to recall the suspended Senate Abdul Ningi

SERAP also sued Akpabio for his failure to refer the budget padding allegation raised by Senator Ningi to the anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution

In the application before the federal high court in Abuja, Akpabio was sued for himself and on behalf of all the senators in the national assembly

FCT, Abuja – Senate President Godswill Akpabio has been charged to court over his failure to refer the alleged budget padding allegation to the appropriate anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.

The Senate president is also charged to court for an alleged wrong suspending the Bauchi Senate Abdul Ningi, who blew the whistle on the allegation.

SERAP sues Akpabio for failing to recall suspended Senator Ning
Photo Credit: Godswill Akpabio, Senator Abdul Ahmed NingiSource: Twitter

Why SERAP sues Akpabio

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) dragged Akpabio to court in case number FHC/ABJ/CS/452/2024, which was filed on Friday, April 5, at the federal high court in Abuja.

Kolawole Oluwadare, the lawyer for SERAP, the organisation’s deputy director, and Mrs Adelanke Aremo filed the suit against the Senate president.

According to The Punch, the development was disclosed in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday, April 7.

The statement revealed that the president of the senate was sued for himself and on behalf of the lawmakers in the Upper Chamber.

How Senator Ningi framed Akpabio, Tinubu

The embattled Senator Abdul Ningi from Bauchi Central senatorial district got a three-month suspension from the Akpabio-led senate over a budget padding allegation.

In an interview with BBC Hausa, the lawmaker alleged that the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government was implementing an N28.7tn budget, which was different from the N25tn debated and passed by the national assembly.

Ningi, during the interview, said:

“We discovered N3tn was inserted into the budget for projects without locations. This is the highest budget padding that happened in Nigerian history under Senator Akpabio’s watch.”

Budget padding: Why Akpabio should not resign

TheTalk.NG earlier reported that Barrister Oladotun Hassan has said Senate president Godswill Akpabio cannot resign over the humongous constituency allowances of senators.

The legal practitioner posited that Akpabio was not the only senator indicted in the allegation and that all the lawmakers would have to leave the national assembly as well.

According to the lawyer, the senate leadership should allow the EFCC to investigate the constituency projects included in the budget in the past to ascertain their execution.