By Lola Seriki-Idahosa, Kaduna
Tracereporters –Compelled to address the lingering crisis facing the nation, Northern political group under the aegies of Arewa Movement for Good Governance (AM2G), has urged Nigerians to raise their voices and demand accountability from their leaders.
The group expressed concern over the recent suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi from the National Assembly, which led to his resignation from the Northern Senators’ Forum.
The group said that Ningi’s suspension is an attempt that is clearly an evasive move to distract attention from the issues raised, stressing that the decision to suspend Ningi is a total violation of his right.
Recalled that Senator Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, was suspended for three months over allegations of N3.7trn padding of the 2024 Budget.
While expressing its displeasure over the recent political trend during a press conference at the NUJ Secretariat, Kaduna state council on Thursday, the converner of the group, Usman Bugaje disclosed that the political trend in the country raised serious concerns about a culpable National Assembly and a failing Nigerian state.
Bugaje also said that the group feels compelled to address the lingering crisis facing the nation, urging Nigerians to follow suit by raising their voices and demand accountability from their leaders.
He also underscored the alleged presentation of empty box to the joint session of the National Assembly during the presentation of the budget by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu late last year.
Bugaje noted that despite the much noise that the actual budget box was empty; either the National Assembly or the Presidency is yet to come out clean on this allegation, beyond verbal dismissal of the allegation, which is expected of them.
He added that there were also allegations that the lawmakers were given a certain amount in dollars to take their eyes off the due process of budget preparation and presentation.
This is just as he averred that there was an allegation that N160m USVs jeep was given to each lawmakers as a bribe to rubber stamp the budget.
Bugaje who frowned at the nation’s budget process further explained that budget padding and looting has been on for some time now, adding that: “some would say from the fourth assembly inaugurated in 1999 – the amounts then was in hundreds of millions. After years, this looting has grown geometrically into billions and with this assembly, it is now trillions. Now, we should understand why this country has refused to grow and developed.
“National Assembly is an accomplice in the mass looting of the public treasury that has today become the budget process. Meanwhile, Nigerians are impoverished and marginalized; they struggle to survive with no hope for improvement.
“Now we can see why we spent billions of dollars in electricity without a substantial increase in megawatts of electricity and the culprits are going scot free; now we can see why our economy has been shrinking and ending up in shambles; now we can see why our youth cannot find jobs; now we can see why our country is on this dangerous trajectory, heading for the rocks; now we can see why this country under this rogue politics has no future at all.
Now we should see where exactly the problem is and now we should see why we can’t keep quite.”
