The Nigerian Senate has pardoned and recalled Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, who was suspended on March 12, 2024, after his comments concerning the country’s budget.
Moving the motion for Ningi’s recall, the Senate’s Deputy Minority Leader Senator Abba Moro, expressed regret on behalf of the suspended senator and pledged to assume full responsibility for Ningi’s actions, acknowledging the gravity of the suspension.
The senator’s conduct during suspension has come under scrutiny and debate within the upper House.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced the unconditional recall of the senator after a brief plea by some lawmakers.
Akpabio noted the senator’s resourcefulness and described him as a valued member of the Senate, emphasising that the decision to recall their colleague transcends religious and ethnic divides.
His colleagues suspended Ningi suspended on March 12, 2024, after he made comments that the government was running two budgets and that almost N4 trillion of the budget had no projects tied to it.
A member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, he was the Senate’s Deputy Majority Leader before he was suspended for three months after a rancorous session in the red chamber.
Akpabio, who had described Ningi’s offences as “grievous”, conducted a voice vote during which most of the lawmakers voted in support of his suspension for three months.