A dramatic confrontation unfolded during a closed-door Senate session on Tuesday as Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) openly questioned the Federal Government’s borrowing practices and the abandonment of projects across the country, sparking a heated exchange with Senate leadership.
According to sources familiar with the executive session, trouble began when Sumaila raised concerns over the state of project execution nationwide, lamenting that numerous contractors had abandoned project sites due to non-payment despite the National Assembly’s approval of substantial loan requests sought by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The senator warned that the continued neglect of critical projects could undermine the electoral prospects of lawmakers and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Contractors were not paid despite huge loans that this Senate has approved for President Tinubu,” Sumaila was quoted as saying during the session.
He further argued that many senators, particularly members of the APC, would struggle to defend the government’s performance before their constituents under prevailing economic conditions.
His remarks reportedly provoked strong reactions from Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who allegedly responded by revealing details of political arrangements surrounding Sumaila’s recent defection to the APC.
Sources claimed that the Senate leadership disclosed that President Tinubu had facilitated a N90 billion ecological contract in Kano linked to Sumaila. They also alleged that following the death of former Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, the presidency directed the Senate leadership to hand over the chairmanship of the influential Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream to the Kano lawmaker.
The disclosures were reportedly intended to counter Sumaila’s criticisms, but the senator refused to retreat, accusing the Senate leadership of attempting to intimidate and blackmail him.
“The Senate President and Senate Leader cannot blackmail me,” Sumaila reportedly told his colleagues. “They should take their chairmanship of the Downstream Committee and also take their N90 billion ecological contract instead of trying to silence me because I spoke the mind of the majority of senators.”
The closed-door clash has further exposed growing tensions within the ruling APC and raised fresh questions about government borrowing, project funding, and internal political dynamics within the National Assembly.
