The spokesman for the Nigerian Senate, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has declared that Senate President Godswill Akpabio will not resign from his position despite the growing calls for him to throw in the towel.
Adaramodu was reacting to the demand by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that Akpabio should immediately step down following the suspension of Bauchi Central Senator Abdul Ningi.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the Senate had suspended Ningi for three months over his claims of N3.7 trillion in budget padding.
This led to the PDP demanding that Akapbio step down and allow for an immediate investigation into the allegation.
Read Also: Ningi: Integrity Of Senate Has Been Totally Damaged – Akpabio
Reacting, Adaramodu, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, told journalists on Thursday: “The PDP has elevated chicanery to statecraft and fatally failed in their sordid attempt to hoodwink the unsuspecting public on the ineffectual but spurious allegations of budget padding.
“The party’s ludicrous call for the resignation of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President is unthinkable and shows the party as a massaging balm for falsehood and immoral legislative outbursts.
“Akpabio will not resign and has no intention to resign at any time because he has not committed any wrongdoing to warrant resignation.”
In a related development, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has expressed full support for Senator Abdul Ningi, who was on Tuesday suspended by the Senate for three months.
Ningi, the lawmaker representing Bauchi Central, was suspended on Tuesday.
He also stepped down from his position as Chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum.
Ningi faced suspension following a debate on a BBC interview where he claimed that the National Assembly padded the 2024 N28.7tn budget
In the interview on Friday, Ningi claimed that N3.7tn was not allocated to specific projects in the 2024 budget.