By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate yesterday gave fresh conditions to recall one of its erring members, Senator Abdul Ningi, who is currently serving a three-month suspension.
The Chairman of its Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, dropped the hint while speaking with journalists on the red chamber’s agenda as it resumes plenary today, (Tuesday),
The Senate spokesperson said the red chamber might consider a pardon for one of its suspended colleagues, Abdul Ningi, who had been barred from plenary and other legislative activities for three months.
He said no pressure from non-senators could force the upper chamber to rescind a disciplinary action it took against one of its erring members.
The embattled senator was sacked from the chamber in March after the lawmakers, in a unanimous decision, found him guilty of wrongly accusing the 10th National Assembly of padding the 2024 budget and that Nigeria was operating two national budgets.
While the senators were on recess, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who is a lawyer to Ningi, had demanded the immediate lifting of the suspension, in a letter dated March 25th.
The lawyer noted that Ningi’s trial before the lawmakers on March 14 was contrary to the provisions of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2018, and violated their client’s fundamental right to a fair hearing.
Falana had also said that the Senate by its actions violated the right of the entire people of the Bauchi Central Senatorial District to representation in the Senate for three months, a situation which is considered a breach of section 111 of the Constitution and Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act.
The senior advocate wondered why the senate president did not draw the attention of the lawmakers to a recent decision of the court which held that no parliament in Nigeria has the power to suspend or expel a legislator.
Falana then demanded that Ningi’s suspension be lifted within seven days, failing which the matter will be taken to court for the reinstatement of his client as well as a report to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for treating the judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal with disdain.
But Adaramodu said Ningi would spend the entire three months suspension outside the National Assembly unless he apologised or got any of his colleagues to make a case for him.
He said the entire Senate would consider either Ningi’s appeal or any other one made on his behalf by any senator, purely on merit.
Adaramodu said, “On Ningi’s suspension, yes, there was an infraction occasioned by the actions of our respected colleague, Senator Abdul Ningi which made the Senate in an open public session, where he was allowed to defend himself and for senators to talk on it, debated on it, then at the end of the day it was found that an infraction had occurred.
“109 senators except Senator Ningi decided that he would be given a light disciplinary declaration which gave him a three-month suspension from parliamentary activities. So, it is only the 108 senators who took that action that can call Senator Ningi back.
“We have been on plenary break for about four weeks. So when we resume tomorrow (today), as the case may be, he’s our colleague, if he makes a plea, then the senators will now look at it and then we take it on the merit of it.
“When we were not in the chamber, there have been so many insinuations, they have been a report that a letter has been written by the counsel to Senator Ningi compelling the Senate President to recall Senator Ningi within seven days.
“When I was asked a question I said, it’s not a matter of Senator Ningi versus Senator Akpabio. It’s Senator Ningi versus the rest of the senators. So, it is not Senator Akpabio, though our president, who took the action unilaterally and solely to suspend Senator Ningi.
“So it could not behove him to be the one who will now answer questions on the actions of all the senators, that all the senators will ask questions on their behalf by the time we resume the plenary.
“We will resume plenary tomorrow (today) so if the matter comes up, either directly or indirectly, either voluntarily or involuntarily, then we sit down together in the chamber and then we look at it on its merit and consider an action to be taken. That’s what is happening about Senator Ningi’s matter for now.”
Adaramodu argued that the issue of the alleged maze snatching against a former deputy president of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, was different from Ningi’s own.
He said, “The issue of Senator Omo-Agege and this one are distinctly very different. For every organisation, either elected organisation, appointed organisation, or statutory organisation, the Civil Service is a statutory organisation, the judiciary is a statutory organisation, and then they have bodies that can discipline members.
“The NJC will sit down if there are complaints about any of the members in the judiciary. They sit down and then they give pronouncements. They are not hampered. The Civil Service that is the Civil Service Commission, civil servants are employed statutorily and nobody can tamper with their tenure too.”
Adaramodu dismissed arguments that Ningi’s constituencies would be shortchanged by his absence for three months.
He said, “If it is either 14 days by law or two days by law discipline is discipline. That’s one aspect. The second aspect is this. As a legislator, you are elected to perform various roles. We have said it here, the only role that disciplinary action can curtail you from performing is sitting down with your colleagues in the chamber.
“Now, what we are saying is this. Anything that will make him sit down with other legislators, if he’s going to be made to sit down with other legislators in oversight, then it’s barred. If it’s going to be made to sit down with the colleagues in the chamber that disciplined member will be barred.
“But if you advocate for your consistency by going there, have meetings with them, talk to them, attend meetings with them, you are not barred.
“What we are saying is that can you run an organisation without discipline? If there is going to be discipline, then what is going to be the quality of the discipline vis-a-vis the enormity of the offence that you have committed?” he queried.
