The Senate has 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.

Senate spokesman and Chairman, Committee on Public Affairs, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, made the remarks while reacting to a statement credited to Ningi that the 9th Assembly has been too soft on national issues and President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ningi had alleged “wrong doings”, which he said are “detrimental to good governance”. Defending the current Senate, under its President, Ahmad Lawan, Basiru said: “It is baffling that Senator Ningi never understood that neither the National Assembly nor the Senate is 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.”

He continued: “The barometer to gauge a working legislature is not how many times it initiated a futile impeachment procedure against a sitting president but the amount of work it could do within the framework of cooperative bi- partisan legislation.”

Although, Basiru admitted the Senate had, many times, turned down requests from the President, he explained: “They 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 said. Basiru said the 9th Assembly has been the most successful since the return to civil rule in 1999, noting: “Our focus has been on impactful legislations which border on the economy, security and livelihood of Nigerians.”

He added: “We work on legislations that have realistic chance of being assented to and which have potential impact on the lives of Nigerians, informing Senator Ningi and others with the same frame of mind that legislation process and procedures have moved on.”