Budget padding controversy: APC defends Akpabio, rejects PDP’s resignation call.

The ruling All Progressives Congress on Friday warned the Peoples Democratic Party to stop meddling in the affairs of the National Assembly.

This is even as it said the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has done nothing wrong to warrant quitting his position over the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi.

The warning comes on the heels of Wednesday’s demand for the resignation of Akpabio to allow an independent investigation to be conducted into the alleged padding of the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7tn.

Ningi had in an earlier media interview raised the alarm that eventually culminated in his three-month suspension for what the Senate labeled an unfounded allegation.

But the Peoples Democratic Party, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, backed Ningi while asking the Senate President to step down for an independent probe to be conducted.

Reacting in a statement on Friday in Abuja, thw APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, stated that Akpabio has neither done anything unusual to warrant him stepping aside or reporting to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on account of Ningi’s allegation.

He said, “The PDP should quit being a meddlesome interloper, expend its lean energy on revamping its decrepit institution, and leave the Senate to carry on with its important role of deepening our democracy and stabilising our dear nation.