Senators' Constituency Projects: Akpabio Should Resign? Lawyer Reacts

• 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

Ikeja, Lagos - Barrister Oladotun Hassan, public affairs analyst, has rejected the call for the resignation of the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, over the recent revelation by some senators that they received some humongous amount for their constituency projects.

The senate was recently rocked with the allegation of budget padding raised by Senator Abdul Ahmad Ningi and the claim that some senators got over N500 million from the 2024 budget as their constituency project money by the senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.

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As a result of the scandal, some concerned Nigerians have called on the Senate president to step aside for the integrity of the Senate.

Meanwhile, others, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), have called on the Senate leadership to allow the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in and investigate the spending of the monies allocated to senators for constituency projects in the past.

Hassan explains why Akpabio should not resign

Speaking with Legit.ng on the development, the legal icon posited that Akpabio was not the only senator indicted on the matter, adding that all the senators are involved and are, therefore, should all be held responsible.

He said:

“The 108 members of the national assembly are indicted. Are they going to step out of the national assembly? It is not about the Senate president but each and every member, including Senator Ningi. It is an indictment upon them because these are self-confessional statements that all of them are exposing themselves.

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"They received this money. They even received more money beyond these constituencies' allowance. They failed in their constitutional responsibility. Unfortunately, there is no constitution to hold them accountable.

“This military-infested constitution is a negation to our democracy.”

Ningi suspension: Lawyer dissects senate scandal

Legit.ng earlier reported that Godswill Akpabio-led Senate leadership has again been knocked for suspending Senator Abdul Ningi over the alarm raised on budget padding and humongous constituency project allocations.

Barrister Oladotun Hassan, while speaking with Legit.ng, said the Senate action abused the rights of the suspended senator.

Hassan also maintained that the senator had raised a fundamental issue: the huge amount of money allocated to their constituency, adding that most of the projects did not have specific tags.

Source: Legit.ng