Following the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria) has described the suspension of the senator as undemocratic and an attack on freedom of expression, oppositions’ rights and independence.
The executive director of CISLAC/TI-Nigeria, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), in a statement yesterday described the decision of the leadership of the Senate to suspend the senator as questionable and shocking.
“We are not unaware that the suspension was initiated against Senator Ningi for expressing his constitutionally guaranteed concerns and observations on the 2024 budget at this critical moment when the nation is deeply soaked in socio-economic and financial crisis.
“The suspension is not unconnected with the public exposure of the N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget by the Upper Chamber, which has hitherto failed to display transparency and public accountability in its annual budgetary allocation and spending. This includes the inequality and disproportionate marginalisation surrounding the distributions of the N3trillion, where each Senator is expected to receive N500 million as constituency allowance.
“We recognise and affirm that freedom of expression and opinion remains sacrosanct to preserve the democratic culture, values and principles in Nigeria. We without hesitation, uphold our position that freedom of opinion and expression is a constitutional and legally-backed right under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria; Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; Article 19 (2) of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966; hence, the sanity and sanctity of these provisions must be strictly adhered, demonstrated and protected by a civic institution such as National Assembly. Anything outside these provisions is tantamount to deliberate violation of human right and apparent disregard to the rule of law.
The repressive action by leadership of the senate would clearly project the legislative arm as autocratic, which to a large extent would negatively impact legislators’ independence, robust debate, genuine submissions, and image of the legislature before Nigerians and rest of the world.
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