The Senate Monday berated Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi for lacking understanding in parliamentary procedures in spite of being a ranking Senator who was a one time deputy Senate Leader of the hallowed Chambers.
Ningi had recently disparaged the 9th National Assembly under the Chairmanship of the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, of being soft on critical national issues and on President Muhammadu Buhari’s wrong doings which are allegedly detrimental to good governance.
But the Senate through its spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru (APC Osun Central), carpeted Ningi by declaring that neither the National Assembly nor the Senate was constituted as an opposition to antagonise other arms of government but as an assemblage of lawmakers elected for good governance and pursuits of national interest.
According to him, “the barometer to gauge a working Legislature is not how many times it initiated a furtile and failed impeachment procedure against a sitting President but the amount of work it could do within the framework of Cooperative bi- partisan legislation.”
Senator Basiru said the Senate had at many times turned down requests from the President which were done with maturity and understanding without generating so much rancour and public uproar.
“The 9th Assembly represents the ever increasing maturity of Nigeria’s democracy,” he stressed.
Senator Basiru recounted that the 9th Assembly has been the most successful since the return to civil rule in 1999 saying “our focus has been on impactful legislations which bother on the economy, security and livelihood of Nigerians.”
He fired further by chronicling the unprecendented legislations achieved by the 9th National Assembly since 2019.
“It will be recalled that the National Assembly successfully passed the Petroleum Industry Bill which had suffered several abortive attempts since its introduction before the 6th National Assembly.
“Besides, the Finance Act (2020), The CAMA Act (2020), the Deep Off Shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (Ammendment) Act 2019, Public procurement Act, 2020, Electoral Act, Return to January -December budget cycle are few of the many landmark bills passed by the National Assembly,” he said.
